Hi everyone,
On a stag do near Rome we knocked on the door and it was opened only a split second later by hipster-type barmen, welcoming us into their prohibition bar. We missed the real entrance, located in a cupboard inside a Chinese restaurant.
In a surreal, slightly alcohol blurred, version of vision I assessed the range of whiskies behind the bar and found myself impressed. Independent bottlings. Cask strength stuff. Bottles with weird circus stuff on the front. This was clearly a quality establishment. I glanced to the left and found a range of Mezcal too, recommending one to the groom with the bartender’s choice of cocktail.
Finding myself drinkless I ask the barmen to move everything aside so I can have a look at the bottle at the very back. I’ll have a single I say.
Glengoyne 8 Single Minded 43%
Colour: Amber
Body: Medium
Nose: Heathery and malty, zingy orange citrus, candied orange peel, some dry American oak, Madagascan vanilla pod, milky coffee. Lovely nose.
Taste: Very soft arrival, a little watery to start, heather and malt, honey and orange, quite zingy, lemon, more chocolate and malt into the finish.
Finish: Medium/Long length. Milk chocolate, malty biscuits, some spice, fresh ginger and some heather.
The Highland Park of the Highlands strikes again. Really impressive young whisky.
75/100
Fettercairn 1997 High Spirits 46%
Colour: Straw
Body: Medium
Nose: Oaky, malt, floral, grass, liquorice, fennel, dried pineapple, nutty and herbaceous.
Taste: Soft, aged leather, oaky, floral, some grass then dried pineapple, nice soft development.
Finish: Long length. Again very soft, some grass, floral, nutty with peanut and cashews.
I haven’t had a lot of Fettercairn but I was expecting more from this as an older single cask, although I do have to say that this is still very nice. Strikes me as quite a Lowland style of whisky.
76/100
Thanks for reading!
Scotch Reviews #655-#656
Whisky Network Reviews #788-#789
Network Average: 75.0
Best Score: 94
Worst Score: 12
0-49 Terrible
50-59 Bad
60-64 Just About OK
65-69 Ok to Good
70-74 Good
75-79 Very Good
80-84 Excellent
85-89 Superb
90+ Magnificent
Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.
No comments:
Post a Comment