Text 11342, 116 rader
Skriven 2011-05-26 13:05:30 av Michael Loo (1:18/200)
Ärende: whisky tastes 390
=========================
Scotches from the SMWS event at the Arizona Biltmore.
I promised I'd send my tasting notes - hoping to flesh
them out a bit when I had time and the inclination -
but now, the time has passed, as the individual
impressions, with few exceptions, have faded in
memory. So here are the somewhat raw notes from the
event; they are arranged in the order tasted:

Aberlour
12 - peppery spice, chocolate, fair smoke, almond, grapes
16 - vanilla, toffee, citrus, almonds; cinnamon?: liked best
18 - citrus, vanilla; chocolate, stone fruit, oak, brown sugar
A'Bunadh cask strength - citrus, chocolate, almond, quite a
bit of burn

Longmorn 16 - tropical fruit; very smooth, egg custard;
apricots. Loved it.

Macallan 18 - citrus, smoke; smooth. I've had this numerous
times, and taking a pour was just greed talking.

Suntory
Yamazaki 12 - raisins, nuts, brown sugar
Yamazaki 18 - almonds, brown sugar
Hibiki 12 - tropical fruit, dried fruit, oak
The 12 is no stranger to me - it's served in airline lounges
throughout Asia. The 18, though, was a revelation. Not
particularly smooth but a bit biting in the local style.
Lots of stone fruit (the 12 is more nuts) and honey.

Glenlivet
15 - orange, spice, peat
Nadurra 16 cask strength - orange, lightish honey, smooth
18 - floral, sweet, winelike
21 - orange, flowers, rather wimped out on me, too smooth
25 - vanilla, nuts, cinnamon, nutmeg - lots of sherry; too sweet
I loved the citrusy, spicy Nadurra, but the complexly
woody and citrusy 18 won my heart. The 25 was excellent,
a dessert drink for certain, lots of vanilla and nuts.

The Classic Cask Rare 35 - a blend of a number of whiskies of
that age - a tad wimpy as well; chocolate and almonds, sherry
and brown sugar

Glen Moray 1992 18 - really didn't care for this - found too
much alcohol (almost rubbing) in front; boiled sweets, vanilla

Glenmorangie
Sauternes Cask 12 - didn't like it much - too wimpy; hints
of lemon and vanilla
Astar - honey and almonds, good with food, not so interesting
by itself
Signet - too hot; chocolaty, a little green cardamom
Finealta - oranges, raisins, lime, lots of smoke and
and burnt sugar. A favorite.

Loch Chaim (Isle of Arran) 1996 13 - the most notable thing
about this is its name; vanilla, oak, spice; ok.

Highland Park
15 - candy sweetness, then smoke and lemon
18 - very similar to above but some vanilla and raisin

Isle of Jura
Superstition - honey, peat, smoke
16 year old Diurach's Own - more honey, orange, cinnamon
Prophecy - pepper, very peaty, smoky, iodine
Liked the 16 and the Superstition better than the prestige
label. The 16 was pleasantly spicy and citrusy; Superstition
similar but a bit smokier.

The Balvenie
14 Caribbean Cask - vanilla, oa, pineapple, tropical fruit
15 Single Barrel - vanilla, spice, honey
17 Peated Cask - as above but more smoky
21 Port Wood - dried fruit, honey, almonds
I loved all of these but might prefer the 14 with its frank
oakiness and gentle attack and finish. The 21 had similar
characteristics but an odd grapiness (Port cask had no doubt
something to do with this).

Glen Grant
10 - not at all; juicy fruit, almond, rubbing alcohol
16 - juicy fruit has muted and become more fruit cocktail;
much better but not my favorite by a long shot

Glenfiddich
15 - pretty nice, spicy
18 - lovely spice and citrus; dried fruit; vanilla
21 - a bit sweet, lots of vanilla and caramel,
The Sherry cask aging of the 18 won me over - lovely spice
and citrus with that vanilla finish. With the 21 the vanilla
had taken over, and the sweetness was out of balance.

The Dalmore
15 - orange and raisin, sherry
18 - very citrusy, chocolaty, spicy
Gran Reserva - citrus, vanilla, not too different from the 18
but I figure younger
All of these have Sherry cask aging, but it's most prominent
in the 15, balancing the orangey quality of which the 18 has
too much.

Ardbeg
10 - very iodiney, smoky 
Uigeadail - way hot; spicy, smoky
Corryvreckan - very smoky, phenolic, some fruit, very intense

Laphroaig
Quarter Cask - peat, vanilla, rather nice
18 - salt, sweet, peat, smoke, cinnamon nutmeg
25 - extremely intense, smoky, peaty

___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30
--- Telegard/2/QWK v3.09.g2-sp4/mL
 * Origin: Paragon BBS - 423.434.0851 - paragon.darktech.org (1:18/200)