Fettercairn has recently been Dalmorized . That means they’ve asked The Nose to highlight some of their best whiskies, specifically at high ages. The classic Dalmore recipe of finishing in Gonzalez Byass casks and Port casks has been applied, as well as an overall (steep) increase in price.

We’ll be trying the new Fettercairn 28 Year Old (€ 600), the Fettercairn 40 Year Old (€ 3500) and Fettercairn 50 Year Old (over € 11.000).

Fettercairn 28 yo (42%, OB 2018, ex-bourbon casks)

Nose: a dusty, coppery start. Then some shy fruity notes: slightly overdue pineapple at first, later...

Another Malt Musketeers bottling. This young bottler was also responsible for an excellent St. Magdalene . Now we’re trying a 26 years old Bunnahabhain .

Bunnahabhain 26 yo 1991 (50,3%, Malt Musketeers 2018, first-fill sherry butt #4321, 35 cl, 90 btl.)

Nose: big and fairly dry sherry nose. Leather, coffee liqueurs and plenty of dark chocolate ganache. Hints of orange peels and cigar leaves. Muscovado sugar and walnuts. Cured meat. Old-style dusty notes too, think wine cellars or libraries. Wee hints of artichokes. Mouth: fruitier now, exploding on blackcurrants, raspberries, ginger fruitcake and tropical flashes of roasted pineapple...

Here’s a very young Caol Ila 2011 bottled in the single cask series from Master of Malt .

Caol Ila 6 yo 2011 (58,4%, Master of Malt 2017, bourbon cask)

Nose: young and surprisingly soft. There’s some rhubarb and buttered popcorn. Hints of kiwi and pineapple. Then some seaweed notes, seashells and yeasty bread. Even a touch of rosewater lokum. Some ashes but it’s not extremely smoky so far. However the combination of minerality and sweet fruits makes it really nice. Mouth: more punch now, very clean. More smoke, although there’s some lime and limoncello too. Hints of...

Compass Box No Name No. 2

Compass Box No Name No.2 is the second edition where Compass Box lets the whisky speak for itself.

While the first No Name was based around Ardbeg, this is a combination of 75% Caol Ila from refill sherry butts, 11% of Talisker and 13% of Clynelish, both from rejuvenated hogsheads, and just a dash of the trademark CB Highland whisky mix. They say it is a bigger peat beast than their Peat Monster…

They will release 8436 bottles at 48.9% ABV from februari 2019.

The XL Blend 40 Year Old

The XL...

Peat’s Beast Twenty Five is a 25 year-old single Maltwhisky from Islay, produced by an undisclosed distillery. The company Fox Fitzgerald, established in 2010, is behind this brand – they also have the Rest & Be Thankful series among others.

Peat’s Beast 25 yo (52,2%, Fox Fitzgerald 2017, 3000 btl.)

Nose: quite intense notes of tarry ropes and iodine, with creosote, subtle brine and black peppercorns. A little smoked ham and fresh hints of menthol and sea spray. In the background there is also a soft fruity theme, on apricots and lemons. Great depth and complexity. Mouth:...

Merry Christmas everyone!

Lagavulin celebrated its 200th Anniversary in 2016, with the release of a Lagavulin 8 Years and a  Lagavulin 25 Year Old .

This limited edition was matured in sherry casks and bottled at cask strength. The name of each distillery manager and the dates of their stewardship have been etched onto each bottle, with the names of founders John Johnston and Archibald Campbell located prominently above their 19 successors.

Lagavulin 25 yo (51,7%, OB 2016, 200th Anniversary, sherry casks, 8000 btl.)

Nose: very nice, it has this sherried, dark profile of the original 21 Years...

After two slightly disappointing G&M bottling for TWE , there’s another Whisky Exchange exclusive that I’d like to share: this Clynelish 1996 selected from the Signatory Vintage stocks.

I’m usually not a fan of first-fill sherried Clynelish, but a refill butt can do wonders.

Clynelish 21 yo 1996 (52%, Signatory Vintage for The Whisky Exchange 2018, refill sherry butt #11390, 517 btl.)

Nose: the cask added nice nectarines and pineapples to the waxy Clynelish markers that are now in a second row. Fresh oranges and tangerines, a little vanilla and almonds. Still nice waxy notes and soft minerals....

Last week I was offered a whisky sample from a new shop called Single Malt Samples . I applaud the initiative, I personally rely heavily on samples for my reviews and the number of shops offering them seems to be in decline, sadly.

Apart from individual 4 cl samples, they are selling tasting kits which include samples and information sheets about each whisky, packaged in a gift box. There’s also a mystery box with samples that are not visible on the website.

I’ll be reviewing the BenRiach 2006 cask #5293 , a single cask bottled for La Maison du Whisky...

Glengyne distillery in Campbeltown released a cask strength version of its single malt in april 2017, bottled at 8 years of age and eagerly awaited.

We’re trying the latest (third) batch, bottled in 2018 at 56.5% ABV.

Kilkerran 8 yo Cask Strength (56,5%, OB 2018, 9000 btl.)

Nose: gentle sweet smoke, with lots of mineral notes, wet chalk, gravel and earth. Sooty notes and light diesel. A slight sourness of lemon and green apple. More orchard fruits (peach, rhubarb) after a while, as well as vanilla, honey, spearmint, orange oils and hints of biscuits. Young but spot on....

The Whisky Exchange has just released two exclusive Connoisseurs Choice bottlings from Gordon & MacPhail .

The first is a Glenlivet 2003 from a bourbon cask, something you rarely see especially from independent bottlers. The other one is a Glenturret 2004 with a deep sherry colour.

Glenlivet 15 yo 2003 (59,4%, Gordon & MacPhail for TWE 2018, refill bourbon barrel, 176 btl.)

Nose: fresh garden fruits and typical (bourbon) wood markers. Vanilla biscuits. Apples, gooseberries, peaches. Raw barley notes, light acacia honey and spices (ginger, pepper). Orange peel. Mouth: creamy texture, all very bright and fruity albeit quite...

Jura 28 Year Old // Jura Rare Vintage 1988

Jura revelead the first in a new Prestige range, marking the end of a total overhaul for the core range. The new range of rare aged expressions now contains a Jura Rare Vintage 1988 , 30 years old, matured in bourbon barrels and finished in old Tawny Port pipes from the Symington estates (Graham’s, Cockburn, Dow, Warre…). There are 1406 bottles of this releases (cask strength 53,5% and around € 750).

There is also Jura 28 Year Old , a new permanent expressions which will be available annually in limited numbers....

Jameson Bow Street 18 Years Cask Strength is a blend of pot still and grain Irish whiskeys, and for the first time in the history of Jameson, this is bottled at cask strength (55,3% ABV).

It was matured in a combination of bourbon and sherry casks at the Midleton distillery, then married in first-fill bourbon barrels for one year, resting at the Bow Street distillery in Dublin (where they have a tiny storage facility of just 84 casks…).

Jameson Bow Street 18 yo ‘Cask Strength’ (55,3%, OB 2018)

Nose: toffee and generous earthy spice (ginger, pepper)...

A recent addition to the Boutique-y Whisky range: Laphroaig 20 Years , Batch number 6. Middle-aged Laphroaig from what appears to be a sherry cask (based on the colour), let’s dive in.

Laphroaig 20 yo (49,9%, That Boutique-y Whisky Company 2018, Batch #6, 50 cl, 490 btl.)

Nose: starts fairly dry, with antiseptics, hessian, medicinal herbs and soot, but it becomes wonderfully fruity after a while. Hints of strawberries, soaked raisins and papaya. Menthol, coastal notes and tobacco. A sherry cask, I presume – a nice one. Mouth: same balance of chocolate and espresso, black pepper and medicinal...

Belgian whisky club Crann selected this Highland Park 1992 as their club bottling in 2018.

Remarkably it was already bottled back in 2005 . Quick research shows that some bottles were taken out in september 2005 at the same strength for Mac Malt in Germany and the biggest part at 46% ABV in the High Spirits’ Collection. Strangely enough, these bottlings claim it was a sherry butt , and this label mentions a bourbon cask . Who is trying to fool us?

Highland Park 13 yo 1992 (62,9%, Brachadair for Crann 2005, cask #20355, 83 btl.)

Nose: quite...

The latest series from Liquid Treasures has a Snakes theme. Among their bottlings we find this Blended Malt 2001. One of these malt bases that include Glenrothes, Tamdhu and a few others, perhaps?

Blended Malt 17 yo 2001 (46,3%, Liquid Treasures ‘Snakes’ 2018, sherry butt, 396 btl.)

Nose: butterscotch and raisins, cinnamon cake, a little praline. Also oranges and a little tobacco. Brioche, hints of pepper and just a hint of roasted chestnut. Very light balsamic touches. Nice sherry style. Mouth: solid whisky, definitely. Oranges and raisins again, with a light marzipan sweetness, figs and roasted nuts. Cinnamon,...

We’ve had a lot of these undisclosed 1991 Irish single malts in the past few years. Of course this comes with a Teeling badge, but we all know it comes from another Irish distillery – John Teeling founded the Cooley distillery in 1987 and managed it until they sold it to Beam in 2011. Back then they also possessed large stocks from other producers including Midleton. Most of these 1991 casks are said to be Bushmills production.

Anyway I’ve tried over a dozen different 1991 casks and there are many more on Whiskybase, but I can only think of one...

After a small birthday intermezzo, let’s resume our regular service…

Three recent Connoisseurs Choice releases from Gordon & MacPhail this time. A Glen Keith 1993 and Glentauchers 1991 in the regular bottles, plus a Scapa 1988 in the dumpy bottle as it is over 30 years of age.

Glen Keith 24 yo 1993 (49,3%, Gordon & MacPhail Connoisseurs Choice 2018, refill bourbon barrel #111152, 205 btl.)

Nose: fresh and fairly light, with crisp orchard fruits (pears, peaches) as well as some lime-flavoured yoghurt and unripe banana. Grassy hints, majbe chamomile. Fresh oak shavings as well. Pleasant. Mouth: citrusy...

Teeling 29 Years Vintage Reserve

Coming up: a new Teeling Vintage Reserve 29 Years , finished in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks and bottled at 46% ABV. We can assume this is from the 1989 stocks and it looks like this is a 100-bottle limited edition for the US.

The Glenlivet Enigma

The third undisclosed ‘mystery’ malt from The Glenlivet is called Enigma . Like Glenlivet Cipher and Glenlivet Code , this has no age statement, no vintage or any details whatsoever. You’re challenged to decode the taste and specs of the liquid in an online tasting game. It...

That’s right, 10 years already since I started WhiskyNotes .

It all started with a Balvenie 30 Year Old – and the idea now is to top everything we’ve had before.

We’ll start with a very recent bottling by Gordon & MacPhail of the oldest Caol Ila ever released, from the legendary 1968 vintage.

Caol Ila 50 yo 1968 (52,5%, Gordon & MacPhail ‘Private Collection’ 2018, refill sherry hogshead, 190 btl.)

Nose: a very luscious and rather honeyed fruity side. Yellow raisins, cantaloupe, fruit tea. Light buttery notes (vanilla cake) before it moves towards linoleum, camphor and...

The Private Stock series from The Whisky Agency must be one of the greatest series of whisky bottled in the past 25 years or so. Thirty whiskies or so, all aces (with no exceptions) and most of them very limited – often just 60 or 80 bottles.

This Clynelish 1972 is the second highest rated Private Stock bottling on Whiskybase, after the excellent Caperdonich 1972.

Clynelish 38 yo 1972 (45,8%, The Whisky Agency ‘Private Stock’ 2010, sherry hogshead, 134 btl.)

Nose: the round, waxy profile with plenty of fruits. That means honeydew, stewed banana, tangerines and lime with...