Clan Denny - Glengoyne 10 #7

Clan Denny - Glengoyne 10 48%abv
I bought this a little while ago, it was one of the last on the Douglas Laing website. Distilled at Glengoyne in 2007, straight into a refill hogshead and bottled in 2017. It is a single cask, non chill filtered, no colouring added and one of only 450 bottles.
The main purpose of this whisky was to find a bottle which had very little cask influence, but still had a decent age, to try and learn more about distillery character. This was just something I was curious about at the time but this bottle was put to great use with the #MiniTasting crew when it went up against the distillery core range 10 - The write is up here and well worth a read: https://malt-musings.blogspot.com/2019/05/minitasting-ssmcd.html
The extra abv of this one gave it a bit of an advantage but they both came off quite well. But personally, I think this edged it.

Colour
Colour? there isn't any! This is almost clear, there is a very slight hint it has been near oak.

Nose
Malty digestive biscuits, fresh fruits, apples, pears, lemon, citrus.

Palate
Digestives, porridge, vanilla, little bit of milk chocolate, quite nutty - sweet almonds. Fruity - Apples and pears in there to.

Finish
Vanilla, nuts. The vanilla does tail off to leave slight chili and slightly savory note.

Overall
Quite disappointed to see this one go. Being at 48% I have drank this as a dram where you don't want to think about it to much - just enjoy it. Its not hugely complex but it can equally stand up in any in depth tasting. I got this bottle for a purpose and it served that purpose brilliantly.

Score
I would normally say ignore my score and please find out for yourself, but in this case I don't think it is available anymore....
B out of 8.75

Great bottle, if you get the chance to try one of these "lightly influenced" drams, do it!

:)

GlenAllachie 13 Port Pipe - Ralfy Bottle #6

GlenAllachie 13 Port Pipe 59.9%abv
This whisky was distilled in 2006 and popped straight into a port pipe until 2019 when it was bottled up and released to celebrate Ralfy.com 10th anniversary. The is of course non chill filtered and natural colour. 
After tasting this on a recent Tweet Tasting (Thank you to @TheWhiskyWire and @TheGlenAllachie for the sample!).....the hunt was on to find a bottle. £95 was the price and a fair price I thought especially when you consider some of your money is going to a charity local to the distillery. 

Colour
Light polished oak with a slightly pink/red hue to it. 

Nose
Strawberry and vanilla cream with a chocolate dip, citrus - lemon, little bit of mint, polished wood. A little bit of sawdust and some almonds.

Palate
With 2ml of water - Lots of orange, chocolate orange. Some ginger cake. Some fresh green fruits in there. Nice sweet malt.

Finish
Lemonade, chilli chocolate. Its the sweet malt that stays with you. 


Overall
Yes, you know the abv is high and in my opinion it does need a little water but I really can't fault this stuff at all, absolutely lovely. I would recommend it but I would think most people who want it will of already ordered it and those who still want it may find it hard to find, although at time of writing it is still available on Master of Malt. (Update: by the time I had finished writing this, it sold out)
Do not worry - If your unable to find this bottle, this distillery is releasing some excellent stuff right now, you wont go wrong with them. The core range is good and the single casks I have tried have all been great.

Score
Pointless score time:
A- out of 9.25

Roll on another 10 years Ralfy!

:)

Macallan 12 Triple Cask #5

Macallan 12 Triple Cask - 40%abv
This is apparently a "marriage of casks".....I think that just means its three cask types, vatted. European sherry, American sherry and ex-bourbon casks. I am guessing this is chill-filtered but it has no colouring in it. Most of the 12 year old range are fairly easy to find for around £70. I am sure I don't need to go into much detail about Macallan, everyone knows it already.

Colour
Slightly dark straw

Nose
Light fruityness, chewits, cut grass, straw, toffee, caramel, vanilla and a bit of citrus.

Palate
Milk chocolate is the main thing I get here - chocolate digestives, that citrus is in there - lemon, quite a bit of oak, wood spices, grapefruit.

Finish
Medium-ish in length, Slightly bitter, burnt caramel and dark chocolate.

Overall
There is no question for me, this is a well made whisky, beautifully balanced and very easy to drink. Having had a bottle of the double cask, I moved onto this thinking id enjoy it more but I don't. I preferred the double cask. I think the one for me is the lesser spotted sherry wood. When I saw it recently at the distillery for £60 I got a bottle.
Yes I would like more abv and non chill filtering but in my opinion they are producing it for a market which doesn't mind these things.
The elephant in the room - The price of Macallan - I am in no way clever enough to explain why they are expensive, nor would I even try. But for me the 12 sherry oak I have just bought is possibly where the Macallan story will end for me as given the quality of other things for a similar price I just can't justify the price to explore their range. Which is disappointing, but it is what it is. If you can, then this is good whisky and you should try it. If you can't, there are lots of things out there just as good and a lot cheaper....up to you really.

Score
Pointless score time people:
B- out of 7.5


:)

Mortlach 12 #4

Mortlach 12 - 43.4%abv
The first picture isn't mine, it is from Master of Malt where the bottle is available for £49.95. I haven't bought a bottle but have been quite intrigued by this whisky. This is my 3rd dram of it, I have had two in bars and this one was given to me by a fellow caravaner in Speyside.
The spirit at Morlach is distilled 2.81 times, confused? (Google it, there are clever people who can explain it better than me) and is known for its "rich, robust, meaty" character.
The twelve year old has been double cask matured in both ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks.
There is no mention of chill filtering or colour however this is the entry level core range bottle, which is not at 40% which is a good start.

Colour
Dark golden

Nose
Vanilla, bitter sweet citrus barley, stewed apples and pears, some strawberry and raspberry jams, slightly perfumed. Upon first inspection it seems quite nice and sweet, but this is where it starts to intrigue me - salted caramel and lots of savory herbs.

Palate
The savory herbs are there straight away, chili chocolate, light cask char, salty sweet and sour notes, there are plenty of wood spices hanging around in the background.

Finish
Bitter dark chocolate, a bit of tobacco leaf, burnt BBQ meats.

Overall
I think the notes explain it really, this is not a peated whisky but has lots of savory aspects to it. The sweet casks don't seem to "tame" the savory notes at all, you get a savory whisky with sweet flavours chucked in now and then. I can see it being a love or hate whisky, I haven't really decided myself, but i'm enjoying it enough to want to try more stuff from Mortlach. I think trying their new make would be very interesting!

Score
Pointless score time folks:
B++ out of 7.75

Would I recommend you buy it.....I wouldn't buy a bottle with out trying it first if I were you. But I would encourage you to try it, such a unique and interesting dram.

:)

Inchmurrin 12 #3

Inchmurrin 12 - 46%abv

This whisky was distilled using a pot still with rectifying heads. Sounds a bit different, doesn't it, well this should make a fruity light spirit. It was matured in mostly re-charred and re-fill casks to show off the fruityness. It is non-chill filtered. 

The distillery really is a "Jack-of-all-trades" with its ability to make many different styles of whisky using its Malt stills, Pot stills and Coffey stills. It even has its own cooperage. 

Colour

Slightly dark golden

Nose

Very fresh, grassy, apples, pear drops, hay, slightly malty-fruity malt, sweet, a touch of caramel and a huge pile of fruit salads. 

Palate

The caramel comes through a bit more, slightly chili milk chocolate. The sweet fruity malt is in there - the fruit salads, turns a bit and gives some savory herbs, Lovely, smooth and oily. A very well balanced mix of flavours. 

Finish

Some wood spices, the caramel stays with you and those slightly savory notes.

Overall

This is a great whisky at a reasonable price and is incredibly well balanced, it gives a great range of flavours. 

What I will add is, social media gives you the ability to find out a lot about your whisky. This distillery is one of the best e.g. their ambassador and master blender are only a message/tweet away. They are passionate and very knowledgeable about what they do.

Unfortunately its not a open distillery, but there is a few lucky people who have had a look round. Id love to go one day.

Score

Another one id encourage people to try - yes I bought a miniature....cause I saw it in a shop and it was cheap but I think a big bottle will not be far away.

Its time for the please ignore and find out for yourself score -

A out of 9.75

Im of the understanding this is one of the master distillers (The very clever one) favorite drams and I can see why - A great score for a great whisky.

:)

Glengoyne 10 #2

Glengoyne 10 - 40%abv
A mix of ex-sherry and ex-bourbon is used to mature this whisky, although I think the majority is from ex-bourbon. It is the "entry level" core range bottle, there is nothing stated on the bottle about chill-filtration but it is a natural colour.
So why go for this over the more heavily sherried whisky they are famous for?
When im new to a distillery I will often go for their younger (and cheaper) bottle. This in my opinion, (due to its age) shows off the distillery character and quality of what they produce.

Colour
Somewhere between golden and straw

Nose
Lots of fresh green fruits, apples, pears, slight citrus and some liquorice.

Palate
Very fruity (Which I think is their distillery character), lots of green fruits, nutty and quite malty. Its a fruity digestive biscuit! Little bit of toffee in there too.

Finish
Little bit of vanilla comes through. But mostly you are left with the fruity malt.

Overall
This is well priced and easy to drink. As entry level whisky goes its a good one. Going off this bottle, its of good quality with some nice flavours. Its abit of an all rounder, its complex enough to spend time exploring and easy enough to not think to hard about and just enjoy.
Like I said at the beginning, this was my first bottle of Glengoyne, so was it good quality stuff.....well not long after opening it, I went and bought their eighteen year old!

Score
Time for my (maybe meaningless) score - B+ out of 7.5

A good solid score, but again, at the price id encourage you to go out and try for yourself.

:)

Glenfiddich 12 #1

Glenfiddich 12 - 40%abv
Thats the end of my "half" bottle of Glenfiddich 12 so I thought id put my opinions here. Alot of peoples 1st whisky was Glenfiddich 12, Glenmorangie 10 etc....mine wasnt so I thought I should try these "starter" bottles to see what they are like.
A bit of background: This bottle is a mix of whisky matured in ex-bourbon and ex-oloroso sherry casks. Chill-filtered - yeh probably. Im of the understanding the colour is "tweeked" for parity, so to me that would mean a little E150 may have been added.

Colour
Id call it a nice bright straw.

Nose
Slight citrus, sweet, malty, green fruits and lots of honey - Not getting much from the sherry casks.

Palate
The honey is there, sweet, fruity. Citrus flavoured malt - they seem to come together. Slightly peppery, vanilla cream.

Finish
A bit of woodspice and vanilla cream. Very slight dried fruits and cinnamon. The sherry casks show them selves a touch there.

Overall
I have found Glenfiddich use some lightly sherried casks (very apparent in the Reserve Cask Bottling) which is quite nice, it makes for a fresh sherry flavour.
It is clearly a well made whisky and very well balanced - an easy drinker. I can see why for many, it was an easy place to start.
In an attempt to find those wonderful flavours from single casks etc I think its great that we are able to enjoy a nice simple whisky like this.
Can't fault it.

Score - My scoring system is...unique, if you work it out, well done. If not, dont worry, its not that important.
B out of 8
But to be honest this stuff is quite cheap, go buy a bottle and find out for yourself


:)