Whisky and other wonderful things

Nose: Sherry! Without water that is the sole impression this gives me. When I try to inhale deeper I just get alchohol. With water it aquires a burnt tinge, but the sherry is still all-dominating.

Palate: Sherry. Burnt cask. Toffee. With water rubbery notes appear.  

Conclusion: Unfortunately this is completely overpowered by the cask. You’d not guess at it being only 6 years old, but perhaps it just goes to show that the lowland spirit is too light to withstand this sort of cask. This is not vile tasting, by any means, just terribly boring, and with no distillery character worth mentioning.

Points: 4.5 out of 10

Nose: Baked apples with custard, malt, sweetness. With water it tends towards apple pie and lemon custards, butter and Danish butter cookies. 

Palate: Alchohol, malt, congeners. With water I get bitter vanilla, Danish butter cookies and Norwegian brown cheese.

Aftertaste: The Danish cookies linger for a long time.

Comments: I’m having problems putting words to everything I taste, but it’s all good.

Score: 8 out of 10 (or thereabouts, I will have to do a comparison tasting on this)

Nose: Malt, citrus, green apples, pears, lightly floral notes. With water: Malt and lemon drops.

Palate: Obvious sting of alchohol, malt and hay gives way to vanilla and something sweeter, like apple pie. With water the impression of cakes is strengthened and I am reminded of light sponge cakes, possibly with a lemony icing. The malt is still pretty obvious, so is the undertone of hay.

Aftertaste: Surprisingly long.

Comments: Classic Lowlander. Not terribly complex, but very, very good at what it does. Takes a lot of water, I doubled the contents of the glass without feeling it was any the worse for it.

This I like!

Score: 8,5 out of 10

Note: This has been on our hands for a while, it was probably bottled in 2005 or 2006. I should find a lot number. It’s not the same as the one now available in Norway which is also 15 yo and at 55%.

Nose: Malt, sweetness, hay, the alchohol stings with no water added.

Palate: Boiled sweets, malt caramel.

Comments: A bit disappointing, I expected more from this.

Score: 6.5 out of 10

Nose: Malt, milk chocolate, cream, dry grass, hunny-flavoured caramels. Water emphasises the chocolate and adds a tinge of lemon.

Palate: So much malt it’s chewable, fudge. With water I get Terry’s Chocolate Orange, grain, breakfast cereal, and oatmeal porridge with milk and sugar.

Comments: A typical breakfast whisky (in fact I guess you could have it instead of breakfast), but it also works quite well after dinner. It’s very complex for a Bladnoch and there is more going on here than I can put words to.

Score: 8,5 out of 10