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Rock Island Blended Malt tasting notes
Jun. 15th, 2025 09:02 pmRock Island Blended Malt NAS Douglas Laing 75cl 46.8% ABV
Small Batch Release series
Batch 2
Includes malts from Islay, Arran, Jura, and Orkney (amongst others)
Time code L 21 08 19
Color: white wine.
Nose: seaweed salad, ripe pears, smoke, garlic stems, pencil shavings, bread, caraway, damp newspaper, peat, lemons, vanilla, green apples, heather. Most notes are quite distant, you have to sit with the glass for a while.
Taste: sweet apples, peaches, cinnamon, dill, peat, chocolate, pepper, licorice, limes. Somewhat dull and watery, but drinks well.
Finish: chocolate, peat, apples, vanilla, lemons, pepper, a bit of salt, some bitterness and wet cardboard.
Score: 8. Between okay and good. +1+1=0.
Conclusion: not technically an Islands malt, which isn't a protected region anyway, just a mix of malts distilled on Scottish islands. The main problem is that this whisky feels completely bland at first. You have to sit down and hunt for the notes. They come, but in the end this activity is definitely not worth the time spent, as the score is not going north of 80/100.
Small Batch Release series
Batch 2
Includes malts from Islay, Arran, Jura, and Orkney (amongst others)
Time code L 21 08 19
Color: white wine.
Nose: seaweed salad, ripe pears, smoke, garlic stems, pencil shavings, bread, caraway, damp newspaper, peat, lemons, vanilla, green apples, heather. Most notes are quite distant, you have to sit with the glass for a while.
Taste: sweet apples, peaches, cinnamon, dill, peat, chocolate, pepper, licorice, limes. Somewhat dull and watery, but drinks well.
Finish: chocolate, peat, apples, vanilla, lemons, pepper, a bit of salt, some bitterness and wet cardboard.
Score: 8. Between okay and good. +1+1=0.
Conclusion: not technically an Islands malt, which isn't a protected region anyway, just a mix of malts distilled on Scottish islands. The main problem is that this whisky feels completely bland at first. You have to sit down and hunt for the notes. They come, but in the end this activity is definitely not worth the time spent, as the score is not going north of 80/100.
