Waterford Peated Fenniscourt Whisky Review!

A peated Irish single malt that isn't Connemara, and one that actually uses Irish peat! It's also natural colour, non-chill filtered, and bottled at a good strength. This should be interesting!

Some pedantry before we get to it: yes, most Irish whiskeys use the "e" spelling, but Waterford choose not to. Because I'm a pedant, when I'm talking about Irish spirits in general I'll use both, when I'm only talking about Waterford I won't use the "e". Let's not forget that outside of Scotland, where the spelling is actually listed in the regulations, it doesn't matter and makes no real difference. 

Peated Irish whiskies / whiskeys are few & far between. Historically there would've been some peat used in the making of most or even all Irish malt whiskeys/whiskies, but just like in Scotch whiskies this became less popular over time and in the Irish example disappeared completely when the Irish whiskey industry consolidated into a single distillery (Midleton). It's also not in keeping with the traditional style of the Irish pot still whiskeys, which use both unmalted & malted barley, plus up to 5% of other grains in the mash bill. The most accessible and only large-scale commercial peated Irish whisky/whiskey is Beam Suntory's Connemara, and is produced at Cooley Distillery in Northern Ireland. Cooley was sold to Jim Beam in 2011 and only produces double distilled whisky/whiskey in their pot stills, which may not be what Irish whisky/whiskey is widely known for, but is actually more common than you may think. Cooley also has column stills on-site for grain whisky, primarily used for their blended products, but the Connemara brand is a single malt produced from 100% malted barley. It uses a component of peated barley sourced from Scotland mixed with unpeated barley, to a total level of around 15-20 ppm for their core range products. The next stop in scale from there is the triple distilled Teeling Blackpitts, but I can't find any word on where their peated barley is sourced from - which leads me to believe it'll be sourced from Scotland. There are a couple of other smaller brands of "sourced whiskey" who delve in to the peated stuff, but these are generally also sourced from Cooley, which again means peated Scottish barley. Tiny distillery Killowen has also produced some peaty whiskeys, but I believe they've only used ex-peated whisky/whiskey casks rather than distilling from peated barley, which doesn't make a peated whisky/whiskey.

So as far as I'm aware, Waterford's use of Irish peat, known locally as turf, in the drying of their malted barley makes them entirely unique in Irish whisky/whiskey. As mentioned above most peated Irish malt employs peated malted barley sourced from Scotland, rather than having their barley malted and peated locally in Ireland. Given Waterford's focus on terroir and being as Irish as possible, that setup was never going to fly with them. The Irish peat or turf used for this Fenniscourt expression was sourced from County Kildare, west of Dublin, so the peat is not particularly coastal and is closer to what we'd call mainland peat in Scotch whisky. Peat is just as abundant in Ireland as it is in Scotland, but is used more for industrial and agricultural purposes there and aside from Waterford is not used by the local whisky/whiskey industry at all. Since there were apparently no willing malting kilns in Ireland Waterford's barley had to be peated and malted in Scotland, meaning that the Irish peat was sent over with the Irish barley which was malted in separate batches to retain the single farm provenance for each release. I can't find official word on where in Scotland that malting took place, but given owner Mark Reynier's relationship with Baird's Maltings in Inverness since his Bruichladdich days, and the flexibility that company showed by producing the barley used for Octomore, I'd say there's a good chance they were the destination of choice for the Irish barley & peat used by Waterford. That may seem like a lot of extra effort to a casual observer, but with Waterford's push for terroir, provenance, and transparency (see here for more information), it's absolutely crucial. To use Scottish peated malted barley or even Scottish peat with Irish barley would completely go against their ethos as a distillery, regardless of where the barley was malted. It would also remove a major point of differentiation thanks to the unique composition of the peat itself.  

My first look at Waterford single malt whisky was the impressive "Hook Head 1.1" unpeated expression, reviewed here around 18-months ago. The first two peated Waterford expressions were released in late 2022-early 2023, named Fenniscourt and Ballybannon after the individual farms where the barley was grown, in the Waterford tradition for all but their larger "cuvee" bottlings. The Fenniscourt release we're looking at here was distilled from Irish barley peated to 38 ppm, while the Ballybannon was peated to 47 ppm. There have been two more peated Waterford releases since that were distilled from more heavily peated malt; Lacken at 57 ppm, and Woodbrook at 74 ppm. As always it's important to note that those ppm levels are measured on the malted barley, prior to milling, fermenting, distillation, and maturation, all of which reduce that ppm level. The general rule of thumb is that around 60% of the phenolic content will be lost during production and maturation, but that varies massively depending on the distillery's production regimen, and the age of the whisky. Given Waterford owner Mark Reynier's past involvement with Octomore as the former owner of Bruichladdich, he's no stranger to using these ppm measurements to great effect. But when it comes to how peaty/smoky any whisky is, the proof is in the pudding rather than the ppm figures. 

Waterford Peated Fenniscourt was distilled in September 2018 from Laureate barley grown on Fenniscourt Farm, located around 60km north of Waterford Distillery. The barley was peated to 38 ppm using Irish mainland peat, and it was fermented for 187 hours or nearly eight days, which would have to be one of the longest fermentation periods in Ireland if not the outright longest. After double-distillation in Waterford's copper pot stills it was filled in a mix of virgin American oak, American oak ex-bourbon, French oak premium wine casks including red wine and sauternes, and fortified wine / vin du naturel casks. Most of the Waterford malts that I've taken a look at so far have used a similar mix of casks, which is an interesting move. Given the push towards the barley and the provenance of the ingredients, it'd be nice to see a straight first-fill ex-bourbon maturation! Waterford Peated Fenniscourt was left to age for 3-years and 8-months before being bottled at 50% ABV in August 2022, and it is of course natural colour and non-chill filtered. A quick note here on the term vin doux naturel! This is just a generic French term for a fortified wine that has been fortified with grape spirit, but the term is being used by some distilleries - chiefly Bruichladdich and Waterford, so Mr. Reynier's background in the wine industry is showing again - as a catch-all to refer to any fortified wine. Waterford pricing here in Australia is a little steep, typically around the $140-160 AUD level depending on your retailer of choice. That's not a ridiculous price here in 2024, but a little steep for a relatively niche product that is still very young and little known. Personally I purchased this Fenniscourt bottling overseas for around $90 AUD, and it's an absolute bargain at that level.

Waterford Peated Fenniscourt 1.1, NAS (but see below), 50% ABV. Waterford, Ireland. 

Distilled Sept 2018 from Irish barley peated to 38 ppm using Irish mainland peat. Matured in first-fill ex-bourbon, virgin American oak, premium French wine (including sauternes) and French fortified wine (vin du naturel) casks. Bottled August 2022, so 3-years and 8-months old. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 11,898 bottles. 

Colour: Pale gold. 

Nose: Sweet & sour, dry & earthy. Very different! Dry vegetal smoke (herbal, leafy, plant roots), fresh sourdough bread, and sprite soft drink / soda (lemonade). Fatty smoked bacon, slightly rusty metallic note (old copper coins), and creamy sweet crème anglaise (custard). Yeasty & earthy (fresh soil), lime peel, olive bread, and baking soda. Malty as well, but in a sour ale way. 

Texture: Medium weight. Silky, creamy, sweet, dry, and smoky. No heat at all. 

Taste: Dry leafy & vegetal smoke again, with more plant roots. Sweet yellow fruits (banana, touch of peach and melon - sauternes casks showing nicely), slightly floral. Creamy custard, oat biscuits, and more sprite / lemonade. Touch of horseradish, dried herbs, and yeasty olive bread. Fresh soil & sour ale (beer) heading in to the finish. 

Finish: Long length. Dry vegetal smoke carries through, and that metallic rusty note comes back. Black peppercorns, horseradish again, and that yeasty sourdough and olive bread. Getting sweeter then with the yellow fruits (banana, melon, peach) joined by candied lime peel in white chocolate. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Absolutely fascinating whisky! The smoke is totally different to any peated whisky that I've come across to date, which is exactly what you'd hope for. That dry vegetal smoke is very roots & shoots, leafy herbs and dry earth. Couple that with the yeasty sourdough, olive bread, sweet fruit, and metallic notes, and you have one complex and intriguing - and rather delicious - peated Irish single malt whisky. This Waterford does come across as being almost entirely spirit-driven, save for those yellow fruit notes from the sauternes casks, but there's absolutely no lack of complexity or quality despite the youth. It may be a little divisive if you're new to dry-ish, earthy, and smoky whiskies, but if you're open to the idea and like a bit of refreshing difference, this is certainly worth a try. And if you're an accomplished peated whisky drinker you'll probably find it just as fascinating and enjoyable as I did!

Waterford are really doing things differently in the Irish single malt scene, and this peated example is even more of a departure. Unfortunately the local pricing here in Australia is a little steep, with most expressions being on the wrong side of the $150 AUD mark. Some can be found at the more premium branches of our largest liquor retailer for $20 less, which puts them more on par with competitors from Scotland at similar ages. As mentioned above I purchased this overseas for a significantly lower price, so would I pay $150 for it? After tasting it, the answer is yes. Would I have bought it at that $150 level without tasting it first? Probably not! Which is why it's certainly worthy of a review. So if you can find it at a reasonable price in your corner of the world, I highly recommend giving this peated Waterford a go!

Cheers!

Truth and Consequence Ben Nevis Sauternes Finish Whisky Review!

A new release from a new Australian independent bottler, and it's a sauternes cask-finished Ben Nevis! Not something you see every day!

Ben Nevis Distillery is in the Highlands region, sitting at the foot of it's namesake mountain, the highest in Scotland, roughly 2.5-hours drive north of Glasgow near the town of Fort William. Thanks to their Japanese ownership - by the Nikka corporation which is owned by Asahi - most of the 2-million litres of spirit produced annually at Ben Nevis is exported to Japan where it's blended with and/or labelled as Japanese whisky. That's likely to stop due to voluntary labelling regulations that come in to effect this year, at the very least for members of the industry body Japanese Spirits & Liqueurs Makers Association which has implemented these voluntary regulations that are not legal requirements. The flavour profile of Ben Nevis' single malt has changed wildly over the years, ranging from sweet & tropical (particularly when distilled in the mid-1990s) to dirty & funky, although that profile seems to have been tamed in more recent years. This may be due to their use of brewer's yeast, which is very uncommon in Scotch whisky these days, but I'd say that it's also due to the changing requirements of their blended whisky customers who have always swayed the flavour profiles of the workhorse distilleries which mainly produce spirit for that market. Despite their importance to the owner's blended products, the distillery seems to be rather neglected by their Japanese corporate overlords. Official bottlings of Ben Nevis single malt are still few & far between, with a 10-year old flagship bottling at 46% ABV - which has also varied wildly in character over the years - and two NAS releases, one of which is distilled from peated malt. But I've never seen a sauternes cask Ben Nevis before... We can thank the independent bottlers for this one!

Sauternes is a sweet wine made in the Bordeaux region of southern France, produced from white grapes of the semillon, sauvignon blanc, or muscadelle varieties. The Sauternes region has its own appellation, so much like champagne, port, or sherry, sweet wines made outside of this legally protected region cannot use the sauternes name. Like many sweet / dessert-style wines, sauternes wineries take advantage of the naturally-occurring botrytis cinerea fungus that infects the grapes and consumes their water content, causing the sugars in the fruit to become concentrated. Due to this infection the yields from each harvest are very low, picking the fruit is very laborious, fermentation can take months due to the high sugar content, and botrytis may not occur at all in some harvests if the conditions are not ideal. All of which means that sauternes prices can be very high, especially from the more famous "premier cru" wineries. Sauternes wines tend to have floral and fruity characteristics, often melon, honey, and stone fruit flavours, and in good examples this will be balanced by acidity and nuttiness. They are traditionally barrel-fermented wines that can be aged in oak for considerable amounts of time, often a decade or more. Whiskies matured or finished in these casks tend to take on flavours of sweet tropical fruit, honey, and sometimes an estery overripe / oxidised fruity "funk". Personally I find this tends to work very well with peated whiskies (Kilchoman, Octomore, and Port Charlotte in particular, and even Ardbeg has recently entered the fray) where the smoke helps to balance the sweetness, while unpeated distilleries such as Glenmorangie, Arran, and Glencadam, have core range bottlings that are finished in sauternes casks. 

Truth and Consequence is a new range of independent bottlings from the crew behind Sydney-based online retailer The Old Barrelhouse. David Koutsoukos & Ross Havezov launched Truth and Consequence in late-2023 and have already released five single cask single malt whiskies; two from Scotland and three from Australia. All have proudly carried age statements and cask details, dates of distillation and bottling, and have been bottled at cask strength with no chill filtration or added colouring. The bottling that we're looking at today is the fifth Truth and Consequence released to date, and it's a 10-year old Ben Nevis single malt bottled at a cask strength of 58.6% ABV. This single cask Ben Nevis was distilled in May 2013 and spent 10-years in a refill ex-bourbon barrel before being transferred in to a sauternes wine cask for a finishing period of 3-months. That may not sound like much time for the cask finishing to do its thing, but this was clearly quite an active & good quality cask, because it's certainly left an impression! This Truth and Consequence is a great example of where independent bottlers shine; by using different cask types, bottling at higher strengths, and using more natural presentation than the distillery owners they can show us our favourite distilleries in new lights, or they can show us distilleries that we've never heard of and/or wouldn't normally bother with. The sauternes cask used for this Ben Nevis was sourced from Chateau Haut-Bergeron of the Sauternes DOC in the south of France, which I'll admit that I wasn't familiar with, since while I enjoy the occasional sampling of a sauternes I'm far from an expert on the subject. It turns out that Haut-Bergeron dates back to 1756 and is only a few miles south of a very famous sauternes winery that I certainly have heard of, Chateau D'Yquem. So I'm sure we're in rather experienced hands here. Time to find out!

Before we do, though... David from Truth and Consequence was kind enough to send the sample for this review, and he also sent a surprise bonus: a Samaroli Tasting Glass, which The Old Barrelhouse imports in to Australia along with the Samaroli range of whiskies & spirits. Obviously this is not associated with legendary Silvano Samaroli since he passed away in 2017, but he sold the brand name and rights to the current owners back in 2008. These French-made crystal tasting glasses are very different in shape to my go-to Glencairn glass, so I'm going to do something different here; I'm going to use both! We'll do a comparison between nose & taste between firstly the Samaroli glass, and then the trusty Glencairn. Any differences will mainly be in the nosing of course, but we'll see how we go with the rest of the experience. The Samaroli glasses are much lighter and seem more fragile than the Glencairns, and there's also a significant price difference: roughly $50 for the former, and $12-13 for the latter. Both are made from lead-free crystal. I do like a stemmed glass, they tend to keep cleaner since our greasy hands aren't all over them, but then I do prefer a sturdy, weighty glass that seems less fragile. But I've never done a direct glassware comparison on this blog, and it'll certainly be fun with today's test subject, the Truth and Consequence Ben Nevis!

Truth and Consequence Ben Nevis 10-year old, 58.6%. Highlands, Scotland.

Distilled 16/5/2013, matured in refill ex-bourbon barrel, finished in Chateau Haut-Bergeron sauternes sweet wine cask for 3-months, bottled 6/9/2023. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 215 bottles. 

Colour: Pale gold. 

Nose: Samaroli Glass: Yeasty bread, thick honey, salted nuts - walnut, hazelnut, touch of almond. Lemon rind acidity. Chewy malted barley. With more time, key lime pie (think lemon meringue pie but with lime), and rich tea biscuits. Slightly nippy around the edges, tickling the nose hairs, but it does calm down / breathe out quickly. 

Glencairn Glass: Less alcohol nip which is surprising given the smaller glass, smaller bowl, and smaller opening on the Glencairn. I did have it covered while I was nosing the dram in the Samaroli, which will have helped the Glencairn. The aromas do seem very slightly subdued over the Samaroli, and I think the "base notes" are stronger here - the malty notes, and maybe the citrus, but less fruit and less sweetness. 

Texture: Medium weight. Very oily, thick, sweet & acidic (lightly sour). Slight heat but not unpleasant. 

Taste: Samaroli Glass: Malty & fruity. Sweet tropical fruit - lychee, honeydew (white) melon, ripening pineapple. Touch of green grape & lemon rind. More chewy biscuity malt. White chocolate, caramel fudge sauce. Becomes more biscuity heading to the finish, but ginger biscuits this time. 

Glencairn Glass: Very similar as expected, but a little more malty in the Glencairn with less of the tropical fruit. 

Finish: Samaroli Glass: White chocolate & caramel fudge sauce carry through, then that sweet and acidic key lime pie returns with the biscuit base. A little stem ginger, and a touch of milk bottle lollies (creamy vanilla confectionary) behind the chewy malted barley. 

Glencairn Glass: No real change here. 

Score: 3.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Very interesting, this is a tasty little number! This was clearly a very malty, barley-forward Ben Nevis, with a lot of biscuit-y malted barley showing through under the cask influence. It hasn't been smothered by the sauternes at all, there's a nice level of sweetness and tropical fruit, so neither sauternes lovers nor malt whisky fans will be bored here. As you can tell from the notes this isn't a dirty or funky Ben Nevis, but to be fair in my experience that usually requires some sherry casks to be involved, and Ben Nevis in general isn't as chewy as it used to be. The oily texture that we want in a Ben Nevis is here in this Truth and Consequence bottling though, and the level of sweetness works well, as does the tropical fruit & brightness that the sauternes influence brings. Can't say I've tried a young Ben Nevis that has that side to it, when I'm getting tropical fruit in a Ben Nevis it was usually distilled in the mid-1990s, and you're looking at $600+ for anything like that these days. Which makes this 10-year old something of a bargain!

As for the glassware comparison, it's an interesting one. The Samaroli glass doesn't really work with small pours of 10ml or less, because of that little bowl in the bottom that you can see in the image above. The whisky sits in that little bowl and doesn't get much movement without vigorous swirling, which I find usually brings out more ethanol until the dram settles back down again. Pours of 15ml or so look odd in this one for the same reason. But it doesn't feel fragile like I thought it would, there's actually a solid feeling in the hand. It's also easier to warm the dram in your hand by holding it at the top of the stem and resting the glass on your hand, while the Glencairn can be held at the base if necessary which is insulated from the whisky itself. Whether that's a factor for you will depend on your local climate! But there's one factor here that we can't overlooked when comparing any glass to the humble Glencairn, which is the cost. Aside from the standard copita or spirits judging/tasting glasses that are cheaper again, it's hard to argue with. Still, a nice stemmed crystal glass does give a good bit of luxury every now & then. 

Thanks to David and Ross from Truth and Consequence for the sample of this tasty Ben Nevis, and for the Samaroli glass. As mentioned above I've never done a direct glassware comparison with the same whisky on these pages, so this was a bit of fun! 

Cheers!

Old Master Spirits 48 Year Old Armagnac Review!

Another single cask brandy from Old Master Spirits! These guys are really making a habit of releasing well-aged armagnacs and cognacs at extremely reasonable prices, and they certainly don't skimp on quality or value for money. 

This upcoming release from Old Master Spirits is a 48-year old single cask armagnac from producer Chateau Garreau (pictured above) in the Bas Armagnac region of south-western France. Chateau Garreau was officially founded in 1919, although the land has been used for viticulture since the 17th century, and is currently owned by fourth-generation family member Carole Garreau. The Chateau's armagnac stills date back to 1919 and 1932, with this single cask being distilled on the original still that was installed in 1919! Whereas cognac is required to be distilled twice in a pot still, most armagnac is distilled a single time in column stills, but they're nothing like what we whisky geeks know as the huge column stills used in grain whisky production. These armagnac stills are smaller and squatter in shape, and far more rustic in design rather than the giant industrial efficiency of a Coffey still, or a modern column still producing neutral spirit. For further reading I've covered more of the differences between cognac and armagnac here, there's more to it than merely location! 

The Bas Armagnac denomination is the créme de la créme of the official armagnac regions, the equivalent to a grand champagne cognac. Maturation is of course in French oak, but can also include time spent in glass demijohns (large glass bottles), although when giving their spirits an age statement Old Master choose to only include the time spent in oak. Which is not the case with the vast majority of brandy producers and bottlers, who will gladly include the time spent in glass in their "age" statements. This Old Master bottling of 48-year old armagnac was fully matured in a single French oak cask sourced from Gascony, and was aged in Chateau Garreau's unique underground cellar, with earthen walls & floors giving humid & stable conditions that are favourable to long-term maturation. 

This cask strength Armagnac from Chateau Garreau is being released on Thursday 14th of March on the Old Master Spirits website at an absolute bargain price of $269 AUD, in a 500ml bottle at a cask strength of 51.2% ABV. If you're also of a 1974 vintage, that's an absolute bargain for a "birth year" spirit of any description, less than a tenth of a similarly-aged whisky would likely set you back. This armagnac was distilled from Baco & Ugni Blanc grapes in 1974, and was aged in a single French oak cask for a whopping 48-years before being bottled in late 2022. It is entirely naturally presented, being cask strength, natural colour, and non-chill filtered, which is far from the norm with brandy of any description. Thanks to some shipping delays and other considerations it is being released this week, with only 152 bottles available. Not only that, but this is the only armagnac that Old Master plan to release in 2024. Don't sleep on this one folks! Let's see what it tastes like, shall we?

Colour: Bronze. 

Nose: Rich, sweet, and savoury. My kind of dessert! Dried leafy herbs (sage & rosemary), sweet juicy sultanas, and rich spicy oak giving cinnamon & clove. A little ginger ice cream on sticky date pudding. Sweet crispy pastries baked with stone fruit and sugar crystals. 

Texture: Light-medium weight. Rich, silky, sweet & savoury, lightly astringent (drying). No heat whatsoever. 

Taste: Rich & densely flavoured with more dried leafy herbs, more wood spices, and more sticky date pudding. Silky toffee sauce adding sweetness. More stone fruit pastries, some roasted hazelnut & chestnut behind that. Bitter dark chocolate comes through heading into the finish. 

Finish: Long length. Quite possibly the longest finish I've found in a brandy to date! More dried leafy herbs, a touch of bitter orange oil, soft leather, and dried stone fruit (apricot & cherry). Dark chocolate with that herbal note carrying through to the end. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: Just delicious. Remarkably easy-drinking, but without sacrificing texture or length, particularly on the finish. Brandy doesn't often come close to the texture, length, or complexity of a malt whisky, but these Old Master Spirits bottlings certainly do! This might be one occasion where I'd actually consider having a cigar with this armagnac, which is not my thing at all, particularly with whisky. But something tells me that it would be a fantastic flavour experience with a brandy of this quality. Then again, it's a 48-year old armagnac, so let's just leave it alone like the producers did! It's a fantastic experience on it's own anyway, with a great balance of sweet & savoury to spicy & fruity. Really enjoying those herbal notes as well, which I don't recall getting in an armagnac to this extent before. Great stuff!

Thanks to Deni & his brother in law for the sample for this review, and for continuing to bring us these delicious brandies & other spirits at such reasonable prices!

Cheers!

Ardbeg BizarreBQ Whisky Review!

Finally getting around to reviewing Ardbeg's lower-priced limited release from mid-2023! Funnily enough - like most of their special releases from 2023 - it's still readily available at RRP over six months later. Times have clearly changed for Islay's loudest distillery...

I'm roughly six-months behind the curve with this review. Ardbeg BizarreBQ has already received positive feedback from many, but then fell off the radar very quickly. Having already tried it a couple of times thanks to friends, and since it's still widely available at the original RRP - here in Australia, at least - I think it deserves more attention. So here we are! This isn't an Ardbeg Day / Feis Ile (Islay Festival) release, but it's not a core range bottling either, it's just a limited release. Ardbeg have really ramped up the special and/or limited releases in the last few years, with the words "special" and "limited" no longer holding the water that they once did. BizarreBQ is a limited release, but we don't know how many bottles there are in that release, and even now it doesn't seem to be particularly scarce, six months down the track. But that certainly doesn't mean it's not a good whisky. With global economic changes and the post-pandemic shift in drinking habits, the vast majority of limited release & mid-range Scotch whisky isn't flying off the shelf like it once did. I've singled out Scotch there, but that also applies to Australian whisky. In fact it applies to almost everything that is not Japanese whisky! Thanks to many naïve consumers that umbrella term still covers the stuff that isn't really Japanese and also the stuff that isn't really whisky, but it's really the proper stuff from the likes of Nikka and Suntory, and some smaller operations, that continues to skyrocket in price. Whether single malt or blended. End rant, let's get back on track!

But before we do that, I was recently treated to a dram of Ardbeg Renaissance that was released back in 2008, the first 10-year old Ardbeg that was distilled under Glenmorangie ownership since they purchased the distillery in 1997. Renaissance was the final instalment of the four-part "Peaty Path to Maturity" series, which were all fully matured in ex-bourbon casks, were bottled at cask strength, and had both vintages and ages clearly stated. Shared between three whisky-loving mates who had all been major Ardbeg fans until a few years ago, this very special dram invoked the same reaction from all three of us; "Oh how the mighty have fallen". Well, in all honesty we may have used some more colourful language, but words to that effect! An Ardbeg with decent age, quality casks, fully natural presentation including actual cask strength, and no ridiculous marketing bullshit. The time-proven Ardbeg recipe that would fall apart around a decade later when the marketing department took too much acid and decided that distillery fans needed at least five limited and/or "committee" releases every year, each with a higher price tag and a lower ABV than its predecessor. Meat pies, web comics about some sort of secret agent - no I haven't read any of it and frankly I'd rather drink Wee Beastie, which is really saying something - and myriad limited releases which had interesting unique selling points on paper, but ended up being major disappointments. Ardcore comes to mind in particular there. That's not to say there haven't been some tasty whiskies among the increasing numbers of releases from Ardbeg - the decent but overpriced 13-year old "Harpy's Tale" for example, and the 19-year Traigh Bhan which is sadly very overpriced and has been since the second batch was released in 2020 - by my reckoning the Australian pricing has increased by $100 with each new batch, all with identical specifications. They're now trying to retail Batch 4 for a ridiculous $499 AUD, and surprise, surprise; it's not moving. Even the distillery's long-standing core range NAS releases Uigeadail and Corryvreckan have jumped in pricing to a point beyond most people's comfort levels. 

There has been one recent exception to this trend, though; Ardbeg 8-year old "For Discussion" which was released back in 2021 for a very reasonable price. If you ask me, this has been the new benchmark in quality & value for an Ardbeg official bottling ever since. As far as quality vs. price I'd peg it as the pick of Ardbeg's "committee releases" since Dark Cove was released back in 2016, possibly challenged by the higher ABV committee versions of 2018's Grooves and 2021's Scorch. 8-Year Old For Discussion is a permanent release so it's still widely available, and has actually become more affordable in the years since it's release - current pricing on the Ardbeg Committee Australia website is just $115 AUD with a branded tumbler glass. That's an absolute steal, only $20 above the local pricing for the standard 10-year old. BizarreBQ might just be another exception to the Ardbeg trend at a similar strength and a similar price point to the 8-year old, but it's quite a different whisky. That benchmark 8-year old bottling was fully matured in refill sherry casks, which is quite unusual for Ardbeg. BizarreBQ is even more unusual, being matured in three different cask types: "double charred oak" (which I take to mean refill ex-bourbon hogsheads that have been re-charred), Pedro Ximinez sweet sherry casks, and experimental "BBQ charred" casks which were apparently charred over a brazier. Beyond that, Ardbeg is being very cagey with the details on this one. We don't know the proportions of these different cask components, and we don't know how long the whisky spent in any of them, nor do we know the overall age. We don't know if these cask types were used for finishing or if they were fully matured separately and then married together, which was standard operating procedure for Ardbeg until only a few years ago. The BBQ link is a marketing exercise "collaboration" between Ardbeg and an American BBQ chef who goes by "DJ BBQ". That collaboration only began in 2020, which leads me to believe that at least those BBQ charred casks were only used as a finish, if not the other cask types as well. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, by any means, but it would be nice to know. 

The chosen ABV for this one is 50.9%, which is not cask strength - when did we last see an official bottling of Ardbeg that was actually stated to be cask strength? Or even one that was at a believable cask strength? If you discount the stupidly expensive single cask official bottlings, if I recall correctly that would be Ardbog from 2013? Corryvreckan and Uigeadail are bottled at consistent batch strengths, although they're certainly high enough for anyone. The Ardbeg Day / Feis Ile releases seem to be dropping in ABV every year, in opposition to their pricing and in some cases also their quality. BizarreBQ is very reasonably priced though, at $145 AUD, and as mentioned it's still readily available. The real question is; is BizarreBQ worth the extra $30 over the current AU pricing for the 8-year old? Let's find out, shall we? 

Ardbeg BizarreBQ, NAS, 50.9%. Islay, Scotland.

Matured/finished in "double charred oak" casks, (presumably re-charred ex-bourbon hogsheads), PX sherry casks, and "BBQ charred" casks which were charred over a brazier. Non-chill filtered, assumed natural colour. 

Colour: Copper. 

Nose: Sweet, smoky, coastal. Tangy sweet & sour sauce, drying salt-laden seaweed, and a thick & spicy fruity BBQ sauce. Warm ashy wood smoke, lemon juice, and smoked pork ribs. Blowtorched herbs (rosemary & thyme), touch of grilled stone fruit & caramelised pineapple. 

Texture: Medium weight. Oily, sweet & spicy, warming & smoky. No heat at all. 

Taste: More wood smoke, thick & ashy, and more spices - smoked paprika. Big squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Touch of sweet shellfish (BBQ'd again) and those smoked pork ribs again. Some charred wood (hickory?), more grilled stone fruit & caramelised pineapple in brown sugar. That sweet & spicy BBQ sauce again, plus a few whole black peppercorns. 

Finish: Medium length. Soft earthy peat, more lemon juice, touch of aniseed. Hickory wood, touch of black cherry in the background. Blowtorched herbs & black peppercorns. BBQ sauce and grilled stone fruit to finish. 

Score: 4 out of 5. 

Notes: Extra tasting / nosing note just for the Aussies: BBQ Shapes, but from before they changed the recipe and ruined them. This Ardbeg is really quite delicious, and it's a nice departure from their usual flavour profile without going too far like most of the recent "experimental" Ardbeg day releases. While they're very tight-lipped about the details on those "BBQ charred casks", the BBQ notes are there in spades. That's within the usual peated whisky wheelhouse at least (particularly in some Port Charlottes and also some mainland peated malts), and BizarreBQ doesn't feel undercooked (pun intended) like most of those special releases from the last few years. In fact I'd say this is on par with the 8-year old For Discussion, and that both of these semi-limited but still widely-available releases are better than any of the Ardbeg Day bottlings since Dark Cove Committee Release back in 2016. Both are also significantly cheaper and represent far greater value for money, if you ask me. Good stuff! 

More of these please Ardbeg, and less of the marketing bullshit - web comics very much included. 

Cheers!

Talisker Parley Wilder Seas Whisky Review!

Talisker "Parley Wilder Seas" is not to be confused with "Talisker x Parley" which was a 44-year old cask strength release that went for a rather insane $7,000 AUD. Instead this is a $145 AUD non-age statement Talisker bottled at a higher strength than their usual default, and it's been finished in cognac casks, which is a first for Talisker.

I've been lucky enough to try that 44-year old, and it is - perhaps unfortunately - delicious. Why are both of these Taliskers called "Parley", then? That would be down to the environmental group "Parley for the Oceans" that Talisker has partnered with, which is all about cleaning up, restoring, and protecting the world's oceans. The word "parley" was made famous by Pirates of the Caribbean as part of the - apparently real - pirate code, basically meaning to negotiate or discuss terms during a battle while under ceasefire. Parley for the Oceans has partnered with a few different brands in different projects, most notably Adidas which involved using recycled plastics collected from the oceans, and closer to home they're involved in the efforts to restore & protect The Great Barrier Reef. In Talisker's case the project is all about "rewilding" 100-million square kilometres of kelp (seaweed) forests - Diageo's contribution being £3 from every bottle of Talisker Parley Wilder Seas sold, plus awareness and "exposure" I suppose. £3 may not sound like a lot, and it isn't. There are 17,940 bottles in this Talisker release, so that's around £53,000 in total from the world's largest drinks company which reported £4.6-billion in profit last financial year. Is this just another green-washing, lip service, "look how environmental and cool our corporation is" marketing exercise then? Possibly, but the awareness and "exposure" is probably worth more to Parley for the Oceans than the dollar figure, and to be fair that's where the deal could've ended, so maybe we shouldn't complain too much. The environmental aspect does go a step further here since this particular Talisker bottling uses a 100% recycled glass bottle which was made using biofuel. The bottle and packaging does actually look great, significantly better than the redesigned packaging on the regular Talisker range if you ask me.

Talisker is the more famous of the malt whisky distilleries on the Isle of Skye, although it's now one of two since Torabhaig came online. Talisker is probably Diageo's biggest peated single malt brand, more so than Lagavulin as far as the casual whisky consumer is concerned, particularly if they don't like heavy peat. Talisker is medium-peated to around 20 ppm using mainland peat, with their malted barley coming from Diageo's Glen Ord Maltings plant near Inverness. The distillery makes plenty of noise about their coastal location affecting their flavour profile, but this is a contentious subject since most of their whisky is matured on the mainland at Diageo's centralised warehousing in Scotland's central belt. Many Taliskers do have a coastal flavour profile and a great salt & pepper character, particularly the venerable 10-year old and some of the cask strength Special Releases. Also the NAS 'Dark Storm', and the discontinued '57 North' if you can find it. Quick digression here - let's not forget that regardless of where the maturing casks are stored, these coastal distilleries are mashing/fermenting/brewing on site. In my amateur opinion this is another possible source for some of these coastal characters that is hardly ever talked about. What Talisker should make more noise about is their surprisingly traditional production methods, from wooden washbacks, to purifiers on the spirit stills, and most importantly worm tub condensers. Talisker is often left off people's lists when they're looking at this more traditional piece of equipment where the spirit vapours are condensed into liquid more slowly and with less copper contact compared to the modern shell & tube condensers. That's all in the name of a heavier and more textural spirit, in some cases quite sulphurous and 'meaty'. The cynics can say what they like about Diageo, but they certainly seem to value these more traditional production methods in many of their distilleries - and they don't try to fix what isn't broken like many other companies do. 

On to the whisky itself, then! This is a non-age statement medium-peated Talisker, nothing unusual there of course, and like their core range it's been dosed with e150 artificial colouring and is chill filtered. Strangely it's bottled at 48.6% ABV rather than their usual 45.8%, which is apparently only chosen as a historical throwback, being 80 degrees Imperial proof. So there should be a fair amount of flavour to play with here. Aside from that, the other main point of difference is the casks used. Parley Wilder Seas is finished in XO cognac casks, XO meaning "Extra Old" so a minimum of 10-years in oak - have a read here for more information. Specifying cognac casks means they must be French oak casks that have held double-distilled brandy from the Cognac region of France, but we don't know which brand or appellation, and we don't know how long that finishing period was. As far as I'm aware Diageo doesn't directly own a cognac brand, but they do have a 34% stake in LVMH which of course owns Hennessey that could well have been the source of these casks. We're seeing plenty of cognac casks used in Scotch whisky these days, and some in the wider world of whisky as well. In my experience the results can be fantastic, particularly with peated whisky. Here in Australia this release was exclusive to The Whisky Club subscription service, who received the entire country's allocation from Diageo just like they did with the Lagavulin Offerman releases. I'm not a member of this service, so the sample for this review came from a generous fellow whisky geek. Let's see how it goes!

Talisker Parley Wilder Seas, NAS, 48.6%. Skye, Scotland.

Medium-peated, finished in XO ("Extra Old", minimum of 10-years in oak) French oak cognac casks. Chill filtered, artificially coloured. Bottled March 2023.

Colour: Amber. Maybe a little less neon orange glow than some Taliskers, but it's hard to say.

Nose: Quite Talisker-y, the cognac influence seems fairly subtle. Salted caramel sauce with extra sea salt flakes, and green chilli flakes. Salted butter, soft ashy peat smoke, and some oxidised (browning) red apples. Wood spices and a touch of dried orange peel around the edges. 

Texture: Light-medium weight. Buttery & creamy, lightly smoky, and quite flat. Slight heat. 

Taste: More salted caramel sauce with extra salt flakes, more salted butter too. Warm green chilli flakes and a bit of metallic damp copper/brass. Red apple again, touch of sultana, and more wood spices. 

Finish: Short length. Sultanas & salted caramel continue, then turns quite earthy - think fresh soil. Green chilli flakes and a couple of pink peppercorns. Touch of bitter lemon to finish. 

Score: 2.5 out of 5. 

Notes: Despite the higher ABV and the extra cask treatment, unfortunately this Talisker still feels quite flat to my tastes. It's a contentious subject, but I'm putting this flatness down to chill filtration and added caramel colouring - possibly more so the latter. Both of these artificial processes are totally unnecessary in this Talisker. Why go with a higher ABV than usual, but then cancel that out by chill filtering it? This could've been a proudly naturally presented product, or at least stated to be non-chill filtered like the travel exclusive bottling Neist Point and some of the 8-15 year old Cask Strength special releases. I know it's a mass-marketed product and it's a large release, and the majority of that mass-market will naively gravitate towards darker whisky. But then why go with the higher ABV at all? My guess is they were trying to get the cognac influence to show through more, which is still quite subtle to my tastes. Aside from the fleeting appearances of some orange, sultana, and wood spice, it's hard to pick. That's not necessarily a negative by any means, a well-integrated cask finishing is usually something to be celebrated, having not stolen the show from the distillery character. However, I'd still be reaching for the standard 10-year old Talisker over this limited release. 

Short of some of the cask strength special releases and the sadly discontinued 57 North, if you ask me Talisker 10 remains the best example of what this distillery does best. It also hasn't inexplicably jumped in price like many of Diageo's core range / flagship bottlings - RIP Lagavulin 16. How they can justify that ridiculous jump in price with no change to the whisky whatsoever, is entirely beyond me. I'm voting with my wallet, and I hope you do the same. Talisker 10 is currently a whopping $80 AUD less than Lagavulin 16 here in Australia, despite being a higher ABV (45.8% over 43%). Easy decision there, folks...

Cheers!

Signatory Silent Stills Brora 18 Year Old Whisky Review!

Starting 2024 off with a bang... An 18-year old Brora! This cask strength single cask rarity was distilled in early 1983, the year the distillery closed, and was bottled in late 2001 when yours truly was only finishing high school. Very, very special!

Brora is one of DCL/Diageo's trio of famous closed distilleries that have now been rebuilt, along with Islay's Port Ellen which is yet to reopen and Falkirk's Rosebank which has recently reopened under the ownership of Ian McLeod Distillers. Brora and Port Ellen both met their demise in 1983 when DCL (predecessor of Diageo) closed over fifteen of its distilleries due to a downturn in demand and an oversupply of stocks, while Rosebank lasted a decade longer and was closed due to the investment required to bring it inline with modern standards and regulations. All three of these highly-lauded whisky brands have attracted very expensive pricing as the remaining stocks continued to dwindle, with ages and apparent scarcity steadily increasing with every mention. Most releases are now beyond the reach of your average whisky enthusiast, having been propelled into the realm of the collector and the investor - for those in Australia, you're now looking at multiples of a thousand dollars for any official bottling. Diageo saw this happening a long time ago, and while they'd surprisingly sold the remnants of Lowland distillery Rosebank to Ian McLeod back in 2017, later that year they announced that Port Ellen and Brora would be rebuilt and reopened. Hopefully they catch the remainder of the whisky boom before the old stock runs out and the famous brand names start to fade away - then again in the age of the internet they probably never would have. While the other two distillery sites had to be built from scratch and Port Ellen is still under construction over five years later, Brora required the least work and the least investment with even the original stills remaining in place. Brora Distillery reopened in May 2021 following thirty-eight years of slumber, including three-years of rebuilding & refurbishment work. This included refurbishing the original stills and their worm tub condensers.

The distillery was originally built in 1819 under the name Clynelish, located in the village of Brora in the eastern Highlands, roughly 75-minutes drive north of Inverness. Then DCL opened a newer, larger Clynelish distillery in 1968 across the road from the original, which was then shut down for a year before reopening under the name Brora Distillery, after its namesake village. From 1969-1973 Brora produced heavily peated spirit for the owner's blends while Caol Ila was being rebuilt and Islay was going through a severe drought, and from (roughly) 1973-1983 Brora produced lightly peated and unpeated spirit, before meeting its end in the dark times of 1983. The spirit from this era varies in style and profile, but the best Broras that I've been lucky enough to try have a distinctive farmyard style and oily texture, while some have also been lightly smoky & industrial. While Diageo have taken as many steps as possible to recreate the original profile, including those worm tub condensers, it'll be fascinating to see how the new spirit turns out. Since the first casks will officially become whisky in mid-2024, we may not have to wait too long! It's obviously an extremely rare thing to find a young Brora that was distilled pre-closure, and after so long in bottle a comparison would be largely pointless, while more recent bottlings have all been 35-40 years of age so won't be comparable to the new spirit. But I'm sure comparisons will be made regardless, and I look forward to hearing about them!

The Brora that I'm reviewing today is quite a different story from the current aged stuff. This is an 18-year old Brora, and it was bottled over twenty-two years ago! A Scotch whisky with an 18-year old age statement is never anything to turn your nose up at, but that makes this particular Brora the youngest example that I've ever tasted by well over a decade. I'm sure it wasn't any cheaper as a result - the sample for this review came from a generous fellow whisky nerd who purchased and opened this bottle to celebrate his 40th birthday in January 2023. That means that this is a "birth year bottle" for the owner, having been distilled in the year he was born, but that's not all folks - it was distilled on his actual birthday, as in the exact date. Incredible! Aside from being one of the most legendary closed Scotch whisky distilleries of all-time that was bottled twenty-two years ago, and a single cask & cask strength example at that. This is a special thing, and it was extremely generous of him to share it! That's the default setting for this gent though, some of the rarest whiskies I've reviewed here have been courtesy of his generosity and his friendship. You know who you are; thank you and happy birthday! Yes, I've decided to go one step further by posting this review on this person's birthday - which also means I'm posting this review exactly forty-one years after it was distilled!

When this whisky was bottled in September 2001 - when yours truly was only about to graduate high school - there'd have been little hope of Brora ever re-opening, and while there was far more stock around than there is today, it was still finite. This is an independent bottling from Signatory Vintage, released under their 'Silent Stills' range of single malts from closed distilleries. This particular single cask release, a refill hogshead designated Cask #40, was distilled on 18/01/1983 and was bottled on 03/09/2001, with said cask yielding 294 bottles at a cask strength of 52.9% ABV. Naturally it is non-chill filtered and natural colour. As you can see below the presentation is very nice, and includes a miniature of the same whisky so you don't need to open the full bottle straight away - which is an excellent idea. Let's see how it goes!

Brora 18 Year Old, Signatory Vintage 'Silent Stills', 52.9%. Highlands, Scotland.

Distilled 18/1/83, matured in a refill hogshead cask #40, bottled 3/9/01. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 294 bottles. 

Colour: Pale gold. 

Nose: Very dusty, farmyard-y, oily, and malty. Dusty hay in a (clean) earth-floored barn, light olive oil. Candied lime peel, touch of dried orange rind, and the most mouth-watering rich malt biscuits you've ever smelled. Creamy milk chocolate, dried ginger chunks, hints of yellow stone fruit behind. 

Texture: Medium weight. Oily, malty, waxy. Quite clean & light in style here, but not light in flavour. Slight heat but nicely integrated and very pleasant. 

Taste: Quality light olive oil, milk bottle chewy lollies (confectionary), dusty hay & malt biscuits again but they're much lighter here. Sweet flaky pastry, more creamy milk chocolate & dried ginger chunks. Lime peel and orange rind again, but less candied and more bitter this time. 

Finish: Long length. Malty & gingery, more milk chocolate and that yellow stone fruit comes through from the nose, with peach & nectarine in particular, maybe a little apricot as well. Touch of barley sugar sweetness, waxy red apples, and almond meal (ground almonds). Natural lime cordial to finish. 

Score: 4 out of 5, but close to a 4.5. 

Notes: No, that's not an insanely high score, but it's still a very high score for this tight-arsed amateur reviewer! This is much cleaner and lighter in style than any Brora I've come across so far, particularly light on the oily funky characteristics that I love in this legendary distillery, and in comparison I prefer the "funkier" styles. But this is still absolutely delicious. If a great teenaged bourbon cask Hazelburn and a great teenaged Bruichladdich had a baby, this would be the delicious result. Surprisingly clean & light in style as I mentioned, but not in flavour or character by any means. That oily, malty, farmyard character is fantastic, although there's much less of it in this example but it's still there. It's important to remember how much the distillery's flavour profile changed in the last decade or so of production, the 1980s distillate seems to be lighter and cleaner in style with little-to-no peat, than I've found in Broras that were distilled earlier and/or aged for significantly longer. Heading more towards Clynelish in style over the final couple of years I suppose - which doesn't detract from the quality at all, or at least it definitely doesn't in this case. 

This may not be the most complex Brora that I've tried, but it's important to remember that it's 10-20 years younger than the contemporary releases that were either distilled earlier or aged much longer, or both. So direct comparisons are basically impossible and largely pointless. This younger & cleaner example is really quite delicious, and it's a very special piece of whisky history. I suppose we'll get to see what young Brora will be like in a few years time, but it won't be the same, that would be impossible. Thanks again to the generous owner for the sample, and happy birthday again!

Cheers!

SMWS Maverick Whisky Review!

A small batch 12-year old single malt from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, released to celebrate their 40th anniversary. 

Independent bottlings can be a minefield, and while I certainly appreciate what they do and the considerable following that they have, in my experience "The Society" is no different. Whether it's one of the extremely high highs or one of the surprisingly low lows, by their very nature the SMWS is actually more susceptible to these variances. Yes, of course personal preference plays a huge role here and cannot be underestimated. But since the SMWS' modus operandi is to bottle single cask spirits, whether they be whisky, rum, gin, or brandy, they don't often have the luxury of blending / marrying / vatting casks together. Or at least they didn't, until they started doing more small batch single malts and blended malts a few years ago. The main appearances here are the "Heresy" series of blended malts and small batch single malts, and the "Festival" bottlings of single malts. As much as us whisky nerds love to find exceptional single casks, it's important to remind ourselves that that's exactly what they are; the exception. Many independent bottlers do prefer to release single casks, but most of those are much smaller than the SMWS, with far less pressure put on them in comparison. Of the millions of casks that are filled with malt whisky every year around the world, only a very small portion will ever be bottled as single malt, and a much, much smaller portion will have a chance of being bottled as a single cask. Off the top of my head, I'd guesstimate less than .1 of a percentage - i.e. less than 0.1%. And of that 0.1% that do go on to be single cask single malts, a good portion are going to be duds. Even if the spirit is good and the cask seems good, the result may not be. Nothing is guaranteed in whisky. I'm tempted to go on another rant about cask investments here, but I'll resist for now...

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society was founded in 1983 by Englishman Pip Hills - who is the 'maverick' that this whisky refers to - initially as a private syndicate which purchased casks of single malt from distilleries and bottled them as-is, with no dilution, artificial colouring, or chill filtration. Famously the first distillery was Glenfarclas, which of course carries distillery code 1 in the SMWS coding system. This operation eventually turned into a successful independent bottling business, which 40-years later boasts over 35,000 paid members and shows no signs of slowing down. That year of founding is significant, because while the 1980s were a miserable decade for Scotch whisky, 1983 in particular was about as dark as they come, at least in 20th century terms. Following huge downturns in demand and some other factors, there were mass distillery closures and lay-offs, with many now-legendary distilleries closing their doors forever. Yes, the three most famous names are being reopened or have reopened and they get all the attention, but even among one company, DCL (now Diageo), nearly twenty malt whisky distilleries were closed in the first half of the 1980s, and nearly a dozen distilleries closed in 1983 alone. So that was some good & lucky timing from Pip Hills, since if the industry had been in a "boom" like they have been for the last decade or so they'd probably have told him to get stuffed. Just like many distilleries and distillery owners are saying to independent bottlers right now. 

'The Maverick' is a 12-year old single malt that was sourced from an unnamed distillery in the Speyside region. It was initially matured in ex-bourbon hogsheads before being filled into first, second, or third fill Spanish oak Oloroso and PX sherry casks for the final 2.5-3 years of maturation. 2,098 bottles were released at 50% ABV, which is the "go to" strength for most of the SMWS' blended malts and small batch single malts. Naturally this single malt is non-chill filtered and natural colour. That's finishing period is a very healthy one, but the addition of second & third fill sherry casks in that finishing period is also an interesting point - there's a good chance this'll still be quite a spirit-driven whisky. And that's a good thing! 

SMWS 'The Maverick', 12-Year Old Unnamed Single Malt, 50% ABV. Scotland.

Matured in ex-bourbon hogsheads and finished in first, second, and third fill Spanish oak Oloroso & PX sherry casks. 2,098 bottles. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Amber.

Nose: Spicy, nutty, fruity. Waxed bitter oranges & red apples, wood spices (cinnamon, nutmeg), creamy vanilla fudge. Nutty fresh oak, stewed stone fruit, rich tea biscuits. Touches of double cream & leather. 

Texture: Medium weight. Nice grip in the mouth, a tad on the dry side. Spicy & nutty. No heat.

Taste: Stewed stone fruit again, more leather, fresh oak, spicy & nutty. Dried orange peel, double cream, waxy red apples. Touches of marzipan & vanilla fudge. Pinch of ginger heading to the finish. 

Finish: Medium length. Wood spices, dry nutty oak, leather, and stewed stone fruit again. More marzipan, waxy red apples, and double cream. Touch of sultanas and more rich tea biscuits to close the show.

Score: 3.5 out of 5.

Notes: Nicely balanced sherried whisky, and certainly not a one-trick "sherry bomb". The Maverick is more on the drier, spicier, nuttier side of sherry-influenced malts, but that's absolutely fine by me. Maybe I'm reaching a little here given this bottler's history with the distillery, but I could see this being an anonymous Glenfarclas. Plus the SMWS has had plenty of ex-bourbon Glenfarclas releases in their regular coded single cask range, so given the flavour profile here and that it's a sherry finish, it wouldn't surprise me at all. For a $220 AUD single malt at 12-years of age and 50% ABV, I'd say it offers solid value here in 2023, and it won't disappoint any fans of sherried Speyside / Highland whisky. The cask finishing has certainly been well managed, there's a good balance to the sherry influence. I don't find any overtly PX notes in this one, maybe they've added a bit more richness and sweetness, but it's much more Oloroso-forward rather than PX-forward, to my tastes. Again, fine by me! 

This is a great approachable, relatively affordable way to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the SMWS. Yes, there are cheaper 12-year old single malts out there at similar strengths, but again this is still a reasonable offer in the ongoing madness of 2023. Particularly when the flavour of the month (year) for such things is to release some mega-expensive "luxury" decanter made from pure Martian vibranium which is permanently encased in the hollowed-out tusks of the world's oldest narwhals, which were sustainably slaughtered for the occasion. Which would then sell for $150,000, of course. There have already been more commemorative releases from the SMWS for their 40th anniversary and I'm sure we'll see more before the year is out, but doing both high-end releases and this mid-range small batch bottling is just the way such things should be done. You still get the "halo effect" of the mega-expensive stuff, but us regular people can still partake in the celebrations by actually drinking the stuff.

Cheers!