Review #112: Caol Ila 1999/2011, 43% abv, The Whisky Trail

what is this? where did it come from?

The label says it was bottled in 2011 but it's just popped up everywhere, from what I can tell. Not a lot of other information on the label, but it looks like it was barreled with something red. The brand is from Specialty Drinks, which I think is the The Whisky Exchange house bottler, but they don't have any. It's cheap -- 44.50 at Whiskybase.

nose: has a kind of Talisker peat -- earthy and peppery -- along with some fruit candy. Eventually it opens up into some more Caol-Ila-like soot and lemon notes, but I might just be imagining that. A little bit of salt and seaweed, too. A very expressive peat and sweet nose -- it goes through a range without anything dominating.

palate: the phenols hold up ok, but becomes thin and even a tiny bit green (vegetal, hot). some fruity/spicy sweetness is there, but again, it's really thin.

finish: not much. smoky peat lingers and some residual sweetness.


This is a huge bargain even though it's taken on too much water. Whatever wine finishes they used work brilliantly with the Islay peat.

score: 84

Review: Absolut Tune Sparkling Fusion, 14% abv, OB

vodka, white wine, and carbonation

The blessed among us receive, as a result of their dedicated patronage, first dibs on allocations of Pappy and Stagg. The rest of us are gifted whatever detritus the sales reps have left behind. It's hard to believe that this exists, but it does. Here is some evidence.

nose: pleasant sweet-tart fruit (artificial cherries and grapes), a bag of wet gravel, and cheesecloth. some vegetal notes, too.

palate: oh no, oh no this is sparkling vodka. it tastes like vodka, with bubbles. It's sweet and stemmy, too, but mostly this tastes like vodka soda. Not like: vodka and club soda. But rather like: vodka-flavor soda. With grape stems and sweet.

finish: lasts much too long but ends pleasantly, back on the fruit candy flavors.


This is an abomination, not because it tastes terrible (though it's quite bad), but because there is no reason for it to exist and yet it does. Sparkling wine continues to be a better option for sparkling-wine-type-products.

score: 60

Review #111: Cooley 13yr 1999/2013, 51.4% abv, The Whisky Mercenary, peated

so basically this is single-cask Connemara

It would be nice to get in a Cooley High reference, but sometimes things don't work out. All the same, this recently reappeared at Whiskysite.nl, so it seems like a good time to write it up. Casks of Cooley should be drying up since the distillery, I hear, stopped selling them out (except to Teeling?). I don't know why -- it's not like they have the "Cooley" brand to protect, but it seems to be Beam's way. This is single malt, from a pot still, I believe.

nose: it's not overwhelming, but it's a slightly acrid peat, with lots of dark smoke and forest floor. behind that there's some creamy malt and melon. Beyond that there's some banana, lemon drops, chamomile, and marshmallows, but that all takes a while to open up. It's nice when it does.

palate: sweet and indistinct. I got berries and bourbon vanilla for a second, and then it disappears.

finish: the peat comes back strong and sharp, until some Juicy-Fruit sweetness washes it away. And then peat comes back, at once creamier and more medicinal.


I can't quite figure this one out. Every sip seems different: sometimes it's a mouthful of acrid peat, sometimes it's melons and candy, sometimes it becomes creamier and maltier. Maybe it just takes more patience than I have, but the parts don't seem to come together for me. This is almost great, but I might just not like Cooley as much as some others do.

score: 85

Review #110: Ben Nevis 21yr 1992/2013, 46% abv, Van Wees, ex-sherry butt, Cask #2312, 695 bottles

that's a lot of bottles

This is from Ben Nevis, which promises to be a little weird and possibly good, and Van Wees ("The Ultimate"), which is often curiously cheap. It's from a well-stuffed sherry butt, but very pale, so probably very refill.

nose: gristly malt and brown sugar. a dollop of tangy yoghurt, fresh green herbs, and then some faint sherry fruit and walnuts come out. hazelnuts and vanilla and citrus rind, too -- like a flavored coffee without the coffee.

palate: much bigger than I expected. bitter almonds and herbal notes, caramel, and vanilla.

finishes: sweet and grassy, oddly enough


I like this one a lot, actually: it's a pretty plain malt with a couple complications and some nice sherry seasoning, it's youthful despite its age, and it's big-bodied for 46%. So no bombshells here, but straightforward goodness.

score: 86

Review #109: Strathmill 37yrs 1974/2011, 44.5%, Archives, ex-bourbon, Cask #1231, 180 bottles

the mostly anonymous Strathmill

Saw today the new Supernova is going fast for US $180. I can't justify spending that much -- that's an Auriverdes plus an Oogie, or better yet, something with some real age. Like this Strathmill (admittedly, sold out a long time ago). Strathmill produces a lot of juice for Diageo; I don't know where it all goes. (J&B?) I have trouble keeping track of which distillery it is, but whiskyfun reviewed a couple recently.

nose: a little quiet, with lots of dried grass, but then also: apricots, lychee, peonies, pineapple, white chocolate. Some ginger tonic and wood spices. Lovely, gentle old ex-bourbon nose.

palate: like some fruit-infused old wood. yellow fruits and tonic reappear, but most of the flavor and the structure are woody -- dry tannins, cinnamon stick, a little vanilla.

finish: honeyed, short but spicy, still very oaky.


I like all the oak! The rest of the whisky doesn't hold up to its elegant, beautiful nose, but it's still a great whisky, and the days of 37yr olds are probably winding down.

score: 89

Unnumbered review?: some honeys

wild honey try


A while back I noticed the appearance of "acacia honey" in tasting notes (for example, here and here and here.) Of course, I was immediately stricken by panic and fear: I have no idea what acacia honey tastes like -- maybe I've been tasting it all the time without even knowing it, or maybe -- even worse -- I haven't been tasting it at all, just emptiness where there should have been flavor, for lack of recognition. And then, of course, I was also confused, since I associate acacia trees with koa wood and things that giraffes eat, neither of which seemed appealing in whisky.

The last part I figured out, sort of: "acacia" is apparently used to mean locust, which makes a little more sense as a kind of honey. As for what it tastes like, I'll have to try. It was hard to find, but now I'm set. I'll try it along with a couple other kinds because it's honey and what the fuck they all taste alike.


Honey#1: store brand Clover Honey

Darkest of the bunch. (I'll put a picture below.) It's, um, sweet. Like honey. It does have a strong, direct flavor, almost demerara-like, and maybe some nettles, and it finishes with a bright apple note.

here's a picture, to show color:

Honey #2: "Pure Honey" (Spring)

This is from a lady at the Farmers' Market. Come to think of it, she was sort of near the Farmers' Market rather than at the Farmers' Market. You could see the farm stalls from her folding table, anyway. She said that this one was from a springtime batch. It's the one on the left.

This one is really fragrant -- like jonquils and damask roses. (The clover honey had almost no aroma at all.) Hyacinths, too. Very rich, spicy floral nose. Tastes like it smells but more so, with a much silkier mouthfeel than the clover honey. Slightly citric finish, but mostly it's like swallowing a very soft, sweet bouquet of spring flowers.

Honey #3: Breitsamer Acacia Blossom Honey

This is the one on the right. Hey, look it has a bottling code, just like whisky: L1741241. It says "mild" on the label, but I think that's just a descriptor rather than a separate category of acacia honey. (It also says "pure natural mild").

Faint floral nose, with just a tiny spicy-musky-lemony scent. A very tiny version of locust blossoms, I guess. Has a much cleaner, brighter taste than the other two -- it's like a archetype of honey, just pure honeyness, without much else going on. It such a blank slate you can almost taste the beeswax. But it abruptly becomes a little dull and cloying on the finish. 

Bonus honey: squeezy bear Orange Blossom Honey

I found one more, so I guess I'll try this one, too. I have to say, the squeeze bottles make tasting a hell of a lot easier, so I think I can handle this without the keyboard getting too sticky.

Faint but distinct floral note. I guess that must be orange blossom. (The closest I have around here is philadelphus and a potted grapefruit tree.) Noticeably more unctuous texture than the others, although that might be storage conditions -- but it really is thicker on the spoon and on the palate. Spicy-orangey flavor. 

I found #2 completely amazing, although I'm not sure how I could use it to take advantage of its flavors. #1 and #4 were intense but a little rough and single-minded (like foxy American grapes, if that means anything to anyone). #3 had a nice straightforward flavor -- it wasn't very floral compared to #2, and I don't think it's going to help with whisky tasting. (Based on this one example, I think what everyone's been calling "acacia honey" is what I meant by "honey".) All good stuff, though, even the stuff in the squeezy bottles from the supermarket.

Review #108: Highland Park "Einar" NAS, 40% abv, OB

duty-free blogging

Duty-free kind of sucks. You end up having to go through extra security checks. The prices are worse than back home, and the special bottlings are mysterious and generally inferior. (I should put in a link about that.) Maybe this is just the result of my particular situation: buying in the UK in general is lousy -- it's a shame, really, that it's so expensive.

Anyway, sometimes you end up with some currency left over, and it's certainly better to pick up a bottle of Highland Park than to get a few post-commission dollars back. This one is part of the inscrutable "Warriors" series. As far as I can tell, the more you pay, the higher the ratio of Spanish oak to American oak. None of them have an age statement.

The whisky has a rich copper color that probably came out of a bottle.

Nose: Canned fruit in syrup and some stinky peat. The fruit is pleasantly rich -- mostly peaches and pears, I think. The official notes say "pineapple," but that seems aspirational to me. The peat is somewhere in between fresh stable and old ashtray, leaning toward the latter, so that's good. There's a bit of sulfur, but so little it works as a seasoning. There are some winey dried fruits, too, and dry oak spices. A little bare alcohol, too, but overall it feels older than it probably is.

Palate: Nice oily/syrupy texture. There's probably some alcohol in there, too, but it's hard to tell. The peat stings a little and there's some marshmallowy fruit, but otherwise very very little is happening.

Finish: It's probably better to just drink some more.


This goes down very easily, and has its interesting moments. I don't know why they bottled a liter at 40% instead of a decent strength in a 70cl or 75cl bottle, but maybe it's more drinkable this way. In any case, very well assembled from probably very young stocks, so not a total waste of money (about GBP 45). An easy, enjoyable dram.

score: 83

(I like it better than the 12yr, actually.)