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Bunnahabhain 9YO Duncan Taylor Exclusively for K&L Wines 75cl 54.7% ABV
Faultline range
Distilled October 30, 2014; bottled July 26, 2024
Peated
Cask type: Sherry Butt
Cask no: 3814010851



Color: amber.
Nose: smoke, dill, ash, barley, tar, garlic stems, olive oil, watercolor paint, dates, lacquer, burnt rubber, a touch of sulfur, peat, iodine, chocolate, oilcloth, rosin. Restless and a bit chemical. With water: more lacquer, chocolate gingerbread, malt, wet newspaper.
Taste: smoky and spicy, iodine, lemon juice, green apples, pears, peat, salt, chocolate, rubber, lime zest, herbs. Not very smooth. With water: more sweet fruity notes, but still quite harsh.
Finish: pepper, salt, iodine, rubber, peat, smoke, lime zest, baked apples, herbs.
Score: 8 ¼. Almost good. +1+1+1.

Conclusion: a heavy-going malt that begs for water, though the water hardly improves it. Far less interesting than the very recent JWC bottling of almost the same age. No idea what kind of sherry butt DT used but hard to believe it was first-fill. The cask number has ten digits, which is something. 83/100. The $50 price per bottle, though, was great.

Ardnahoe Infinite Loch NAS OB 70cl 50% ABV
Matured in a combination of ex-Bourbon and ex-Oloroso sherry casks
Time code 25/01/04



Color: golden.
Nose: smoke, damp newspaper, dill, cucumbers, roasted nuts, mint, kurabiye cookies, a bit of lacquer, spruce needles, duct tape, dried squid, lemons, peat, marzipan, seaweed, ash, pears, apples, tar.
Taste: smoky and oily, with salt, lemons, pepper, a lot of honey, apples, pears, seaweed, and grapefruits. Somewhat sweet.
Finish: smoky and oily, with honey, pepper, salt, dark chocolate, herbs, and lemons.
Score: 8 ½. Good. +2+1+1.

Conclusion: I like this whisky from the new Ardnahoe distillery, opened in 2019. It hits a lot of great Islay notes despite its obviously young age. I would definitely like to get more of these Ardnahoes. This one feels more like Caol Ila, which is totally fine. No one is going to complain about a new Caol Ila showing up on Islay. But I need to try other bottlings as they become available. 84/100. This is the 115th Scottish distillery whose single malts I've tasted.

P.S. The distillery note says all casks were first-fill, though there is no indication of this on the label or box.

Ardbeg "Eureka!" Committee Release NAS OB 75cl 52.2% ABV
A marriage of PX sherry casks combined with roasted malt spirit matured in bourbon casks
Time code L2531147 01/10/2024



Color: amber.
Nose: smoke, rosin, fresh bread, wet newspaper, coal, tar soap, paint thinner, roasted nuts, salted fish, peat, ash, seaweed salad, oranges, electrical tape, red apples, cherries, pomegranates, chalk, pine needles, popcorn, roasted meat, tea, talc powder.
Taste: toffee, smoke, ash, peat, a bit of iodine, peanuts, toasted bread, red currants, dark chocolate, raisins, lots of cherries, coffee, lemon zest, tobacco, pepper, buckwheat, licorice.
Finish: cocoa, tobacco, chocolate, pepper, smoke, peat, lemons, bread, buckwheat, salt, popcorn, ash, tooth powder.
Score: 8 ¾. Better than good. +2+2+1.

Conclusion: a rather unusual Ardbeg with some interesting bready notes. Not exactly a groundbreaking release, but I am quite happy with it, especially considering the price. It has been a long time since a Committee bottling cost around $80. Thanks for the ABV, even though it is most likely not a cask strength whisky. 87/100. Well done.

Kilchoman Sanaig Cask Strength OB 70cl 57.8% ABV
2024 Edition
Matured predominantly in Oloroso sherry casks
Bottle code SCS 20/08/24 24/97


Color: brown.
Nose: peat, tires, dill, iodine, lacquer, chocolate, smoke, nuts, bacon, tar, soy sauce, champignons, baked apples, cocoa, electrical tape, glossy magazine, yellow mustard, tobacco. A lot of familiar notes!
Taste: smoky and oily, with peat, dark chocolate, redcurrants, Lugol's solution, plums, tobacco, black tea, green olives, pepper, and lemons. Not too spicy, with great notes of berries, and really easy to drink.
Finish: peat, smoke, chocolate, blackcurrants, plums, pepper, salt, chokeberries, lemon zest. This is where it starts to feel a bit too young and a bit too sweet.
Score: 8 ¾. Better than good. +2+2+1.

Conclusion: made using the same cask recipe as their regular Sanaig release, this undiluted version feels significantly better and more intense thanks to the higher ABV. But it is not just the strength. Once again, the Oloroso sherry casks have done a remarkable job of elevating an already strong base. A very good and enjoyable Kilchoman. 88/100.

Caol Ila 16YO Signatory Vintage 70cl 52.8% ABV
Cask Strength Collection
Distilled February 9, 2007, bottled August 24, 2023
Initially matured in hogsheads, finished in a fresh Oloroso Sherry butt for 32 months
Cask no: 206
Bottle 383 / 689 (different number on the stock photo)

Color: dark brown. Outstanding.
Nose: peat, cocoa, smoke, rosin, burnt plastic, lacquer, grassy notes, smoked fish, rubber, woody twigs, tea, cedar nuts, wet newspaper, pencil shavings, dark chocolate, muesli, nectarines, ash, dates, honey, leather, engine oil, and nuttiness. The layers unfold continuously, each revealing new intricacies. Classic Caol Ila and sherry notes, perfectly interwoven. Remarkable.
Taste: smoky and oily, with notes of cocoa, dark chocolate, lemons, orange zest, peat, cherries, plums of varying ripeness, raisins, oak, pepper, and leather. Dense, chewy, and immensely satisfying. Sweet but never cloying, very smooth.
Finish: ash, rubber, cherries, orange zest, cocoa, peat, smoke, pepper, herbs, lemons, dark chocolate, chokeberries, and prunes.
Score: 9 ¼. Almost excellent. +3+2+2.

Conclusion: you can guess the whisky will be superb just by looking at that color! A fantastic, heavily sherried, and incredibly rich malt. Calling it a sherry monster would be an understatement because it offers so much more. The aroma is simply captivating. Over the last 10 years, I've only had three of Signatory's famous decanter bottles, but this month I managed to buy three more, including the Caol Ila. The marriage of peat and prolonged sherry maturation creates a truly impressive combination. My 75th Caol Ila tasted, and one of the finest. 93/100. Wow!

Kilchoman 9YO OB for ImpEx Beverages Inc 75cl 56.3% ABV
ImpEx Cask Evolution Series 03/2024
Distilled August 20, 2014, bottled July 1, 2024
Cask type: Bourbon barrel
Phenols: 20 ppm
Cask no: 652/2014
217 bottles


Color: light gold.
Nose: smoke, rubber, chocolate covered nuts, rosin, electrical tape, garlic stem, smoked mackerel, damp newspaper, lemons, peat, dill, ash, rotten wood, camphor oil, pineapples, vanilla, and pomelos. Adding a drop of water brings out more smoked fish, now leaning toward sprats in oil, along with intensified citrus aromas and resinous undertones.
Taste: smoky and oily, with notes of peat, lemons, red currants, honey, pears, pepper, green apples, salt, chocolate, and cranberries. Pleasant and moderately sweet, yet somewhat rough around the edges and lacking depth. With water, the chocolate and bitterness become more pronounced.
Finish: honey, smoke, peat, green apples, lemons, chocolate, pepper, salt, black chokeberries, and subtle oily notes. Some added bitterness with water.
Score: 8 ½. Good. +2+1+1.

Conclusion: I struggled to describe this malt for some reason, it took me a long time and too many attempts. According to data from ImpEx Beverages, it contains just 20 ppm of phenols compared to Kilchoman's typical 50 ppm. The peat and smoke are still sufficient, though the taste and finish feel somewhat simplistic. Still, it deserves a bonus point for the taste, bringing overall score to 86/100. But the expression is too expensive. It used to be fair to expect single malt pricing to follow a $10-per-year-of-aging guideline (at least up to a certain age, after which prices really go off the rails), but now we're seeing more and more cases where teenage and younger whisky is priced closer to $20 per year — or sometimes even higher. I’m not signing up for that.

Caol Ila 15YO Dramfool 70cl 55.1% ABV
Dramfool's Middle Cut series
Distilled 04.07.2008, bottled 07.2023
Finished since 04.2021 in a 2nd fill Bourbon barrel previously holding Octomore whisky (this one)
Cask no: 313328
145 bottles

Цвет: золотистый.
Аромат: шпроты в масле, дым, уголь, корочка хлеба, мёд, торф, изолента, сушёный кальмар, мокрая трава, розовые лепестки, лак, грейпфруты, йод, медицинский жгут, укроп, горелый пластик, фруктовая жевательная резинка, кожа, кедр, персики. Прямо-таки шикарный и неисчерпаемый, есть всё, что надо!
Вкус: дымно-маслянистый, перец, торф, уголь, соль, груши, цедра лимона, мята, какао, дерево, клюква в сахаре. Довольно мягкий, округлый, сухой.
Послевкусие: дымно-маслянистое, перец, зола, соль, горький шоколад, мята, дерево, клюква в сахаре.
Оценка: 9 ¼. Почти отлично. +3+2+2.

Вывод: прекрасная бурбонная Кул Ила, получается, её более двух лет довыдерживали в бочке из-под Октомора 107 ppm! Угольные мотивы, пришли, видимо, как раз оттуда. Аромат совершенно потрясающий! В целом бочка вышла эффектнее соседней, хотя у них хватает общих моментов. 92/100. Странно, что набралось всего 145 бутылок, но ещё более удивительно, что в K&L Wines не раскупили эту амброзию и после уценки на треть. Непонятно устроен мир.

Bowmore 11YO Jewish Whisky Company 75cl 56.9% ABV
Single Cask Nation series
Distilled 01.2013, bottled 07.2024
Cask type: 2nd Fill Bourbon hogshead
Cask no. 160491
276 bottles


Цвет: светло-золотой.
Аромат: торф, мокрая обёрточная бумага, канифоль, тмин, шоколад, солод, солёный морской бриз, изолента, дымок, подсолнечное масло, карандашная стружка, артишоки, цветки черёмухи, хлеб, лимоны. Забавно, практически с полугарными нотками. С водой груши, укроп, изюм, мел, жареное мясо, более заметны цветки черёмухи.
Вкус: дымно-маслянистый, торф, перец, соль, зола, грейпфруты, шоколад, мята, текильные нотки. Горьковатый и островатый. С водой больше шоколада, леденцы, абрикосы, груши, марципан.
Послевкусие: шоколад, перец, соль, торф, лимоны, лекарственные травы. С водой груши, какао и почему-то мокрый картон.
Оценка: 8 ½. Хорошо. +2+1+1.

Вывод: бурбонный Бомор с рядом интересных моментов во всех оценочных пунктах, несколько горячий и угловатый во вкусе и послевкусии. Вода раскрывает фруктовые нотки, но улучшить оценку не может. 85/100.

Caol Ila 12YO Hunter Laing 70cl 50% ABV
The Old Malt Cask 25th Anniversary series
Distilled 02.2011, bottled 10.2023
Cask type: Manzanilla Sherry Butt
750 bottles


Цвет: тёмное золото.
Аромат: заметно сернистый, лак, дым, торф, лесная подстилка, малина, шампиньоны, йод, зола, стебель чеснока, канифоль, груши, ржаной хлеб, резина, соевый соус. Весьма богатый оттенками, но сера всё портит, увы.
Вкус: дымно-маслянистый, торф, зелёные яблоки, финики, шоколад, оливки, мёд, лимоны, перец, соль, резина. Интересный, хотя и немного химически-резковатый.
Послевкусие: дым, торф, перец, соль, яблоки, финики, брусника, мёд, оливки. Несколько горячее.
Оценка: 8. Между нормально и хорошо. =0+1+1.

Вывод: вот же незадача! Аромат совершенно испорчен серой, иногда такое бывает. Не слишком впечатляют и вкус с послевкусием, хотя солёные нотки весьма хороши. Надеялся на эту бочку из-под совсем сухого, финоподобного хереса, разочарован, конечно. 80/100. Неудачный розлив, приуроченный к юбилею серии The Old Malt Cask.

Caol Ila 11YO "Ambrosial Feast Unpeated" OB 75cl 57.3% ABV
Diageo Special Releases 2024
Finished in Refill, Rejuvenated, and ex-Wine casks
Time code L4050CM004


Цвет: тёмное золото.
Аромат: зелёные яблоки, ванильное мороженое, малина, вишня, шоколадное пирожное брауни, мята, айва, сушёный кальмар, мокрая газета, глина, молотый чёрный перец, табак, мокрая бочка. С водой травянистые нотки, леденцы.
Вкус: мёд, шоколад, вишня, малина, перец, соль, зелёные яблоки, брусника, лайм. Очень сладкий, чуть угловатый. С водой лавровый лист, яблочные косточки, чуть меньше сладости, но больше горчинки.
Послевкусие: мёд, перец, шоколад, какао, брусника, яблоки, вишня, сливы.
Оценка: 8 ½. Хорошо. +2+1+1.

Вывод: давно не попадались неторфяные Кул Илы, последняя проходила аж почти девять лет назад. Предпочитаю торфяные, но и такие интересны! Очень выразительны яблочные нотки, заметны винные бочки. Сладости вот многовато, увы, с водой она убывает, но по-прежнему заметна. 85/100.