Review #134: Glen Keith 21yr 1992/2014, Archives, 51.5%, C# 120599, 218 bottles

back from the dead

So, I guess Glen Keith is back distilling and bigger than ever. I doubt that any of the original equipment is in use, but whatever. This whisky is from a previous incarnation.

It's hard to believe that I haven't written up Glen Keith yet, either. It's in Speyside, right by Strathisla, consistently good stuff but never found a big audience. Lots of indy bottlings, though.

nose: tart apples, slightly creamy, fresh laundry, wildflower honey, and white chocolate. very clean, straightforward flavors.

palate: soft and then oily and then prickly-oaky, with depths and depths of toffee sweetness. again, this is the least neurotic whisky ever -- it just is what it is.

finish: more of the same -- mixture of soft/oaky/sweet. pleasant.

This is just very good in every respect, without being complicated or difficult or surprising or demanding. Typical and very enjoyable.


score: 87

Review #121: Brora 30yr, 2009 release (8th edition), 53.2%, OB, 2652 bottles

birthday blogging

Seems like a good time to open this. From the dead distillery across the way from Clynelish.

nose: peaches, honey, a bucket of seawater, an almond, some rocks, roses, salted caramels, baked apples with oak spice, creamy beeswax, and muted but biting peat. More sherry fruit comes out over time. Tiny hints of loam and ricola and bacon. Nothing seems particularly profound or intense, but it's like a greatest hits album. Everything is sedate, balanced: it moves nicely between fruit and peat and wax.

palate: smoky wax, lemony apples. Really very waxy, and the peat coats everything. Some sauvignon blanc flavors, old oak, and some nice herbs (tarragon, lemon balm).

finish: the peat tingles and settles into smoke, lots of fruity sweetness with vanilla, and a little menthol. really lingers.


This doesn't rock my world, but it comes pretty close. It's basically a peaty Clynelish with some extra depth and richness. But that's pretty good!

score: 91

Review #99: Caroni Rum 15 yrs, 1997/2012, Sansibar, 46% abv, 179 bottles

gonna party like it's review #99

Caroni is no longer since 2002. It was in Trinidad. They used molasses. I'm not sure where it was aged or in what, but I should.

Nose: almost jammy fruit (peaches and strawberries) and tarry black soot. Burnt sugar and lawn mower exhaust. Sugar cane and rubber boots. A little bit of hay and camphor mixed with bananas and sweet wood. This is heady stuff.

Palate: Rather medicinal -- the rubber boots/camphor/fruit combination turns into something like ricola. Feels a little thin at 46%, perhaps.

Finish: sweet and very minty, with a little spice. Smoke and rubber boots again.


Not the easiest, but the best rum I've ever had. I only wish it showed a little more depth on the palate. A shame it isn't made any more.

score: 89