Saturday 17 December 2016

Friday tasting part 1 (islands): Arran 16 yo Private cask, Bunnahabhain 25 yo 46.3%, Ardbeg Auriverdes 49.9%, Caol Ila 19 yo Maltbarn 52.8%

New Year is coming, only two weeks left and too many samples are looming. But let it be our biggest problem to solve :)

Arran 16 yo cask 2000/223 for Goodwine 54.7% - special private cask for local whisky store selected by Platon Blyznyuk and a team of local malt experts. As you all know the distillery is quite young (though promising) and started industrial production in 1995 on isle of Arran.

Nose: quite fresh at the beginning, some raisins, wood notes, herring, after a while you get more salt and soaked apples.

Taste: powerful, salty and creamy.

Finish: long and spicy with lovely "umami" note.

Overall: successfull cask indeed, good price and right direction for Arran as a distillery, their malts are becoming better and better.

Score: 21 22 22 22, 87/100!


Bunnahabhain 25 yo 46.3% - a live classic I'd say.

Nose: combo of fresh saltiness and floral sweetness. Obvious old oak. Aroma is not too powerful and convincing, though the bottle is said to have stayed around a year on a bar shelf so it might have faded away already.

Taste: delicate, sweet and salty.

Finish: long, creamy, subtle peat and salted wood with coffee notes.

Overall: very nice and enjoyable Islay malt, though I'm not sure the result is objective, need to retaste it some time from a just opened bottle. In terms of money to pleasure ratio I'd prefer Bunna 18 yo though.

Score: 21 (?) 22 22 22, 87/100! 


Ardbeg Auriverdes 2002/2014 49.9% - limited 12 yo release with American oak casks used.

Nose: malted barley, fresh grass and hay, peat, vanilla and citrus.

Taste: peat, salt, citrus and sweet barley. Very clean and quite light despite its 49.9% strength.

Finish: long on peat, iodine and pepper. Salt and lemon of course.

Overall: nice young Ardbeg, though not too impressive.

Score: 21 22 22 21, 86/100!


Caol Ila 19 yo Maltbarn 52.8% - quite perfect Caol Ila matured in bourbon casks from a German bottler with a very nice cask taste.

Nose: fresh salted butter, delicate smoke, ashes, apples and vanilla.

Taste: soft and oily with lemon, salt and herbs nicely put together. United they'll stand :)

Finish: medium-long on ashes, lemon and grass.

Overall: very-very delicate and refined Caol Ila, that's I why I like bourbon cask maturation.

Score: 22 23 22 22, 89/100! 


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