After the success of the l'Arran 1995 launched at the Whisky Live Paris 2023, a number of the distillery's fine bottlings have been specially crafted for the Whisky Live Paris 2024, including this one, which matured for 22 years in a Hogshead Bourbon before 150 bottles were offered to the public. It is, of course, integrated into the Foundations Collection.
Let's Taste It :
Very mellow on the nose, candied fruits, almond paste, apricots, orange zest, pear coated in milk chocolate. Costal touches, with sea salt, sea spray, limestone. Citrus syrup, molasses, light floral fragrances. On the palate, the fruit is fuller, white grape, redcurrant, red apple, even exotic, papaya, lychee, pineapple. The spices are varied, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg. Herbaceous notes, sage, tall grass, reeds. sunflower oil, almond milk, roasted nuts, warm chestnuts, perhaps a whiff of smoke, a drop of passion fruit.
In Short,
It's really good, this very fruity character and at the same time costal. A typical distillery bottling, woody, grainy fruit and a slight maritime touch. It's very successful, but lacks a little power. The price, on the other hand, is powerful and rather disproportionate.
It's a privilege to taste this 36-year-old Caol Ila, and what's more, it's a gift from a friend, which is priceless. The maturation was simply done in Bourbon Hogshead, resulting in just 120 bottles. At this age, the peat is very discreet and barely noticeable.
Let's Taste It :
Right away, tropical fruit and citrus, with a hint of peat in the form of grit, wood shavings and small gravel. Rainy iodine in the background, contrasting with tasty fruits, roasted pineapple, white melon, banana, lychee, and beeswax, floor wax, walnut oil, robust and elegant woodiness, like those untreated beams in a hay-filled barn. Syrupy honey, molasses, crushed dates. On the palate it's wiser, olive oil, lemon zest, a dash of vanilla, biscuit dough rolled in flour with a shadow of icing sugar, delicate peat and barely perceptible spices in the background. Very long finish, like a goods train in a country station, powerful, crushed hazelnuts, smoked salmon, sesame seeds, herbal notes, reeds, white grapes with their seeds, a few more drops of wax.
In Short,
An incredible Caol Ila, but not really recognisable, I would have rather said Springbank, or Bowmore, which is a compliment, because these are among my favourite distilleries. The nose and finish are sublime, the palate is just excellent, and it all adds up to one of the best Caol Ila's I've ever had. If not the best. The price was quite right when it first came out, but it sold out very quickly, and today you can still find it, but only if you multiply by two or three, it becomes more prohibitive.
This is the second bottling produced jointly by Daily Dram and Signatory Vintage. Basically, the Belgians took what they liked from Mr Symington's warehouses. And here we have a Glen Ord matured in a single Bourbon Barrel, aged for 11 years. Unfortunately, there are no details on the number of bottles obtained.
Let's Taste It :
It's very fruity, orchard fruits, white peaches, Conference pears, juicy apples, but also a lovely mellowness, egg custard, brioche, butter biscuits, filled with caramel. Creamy vanilla, a few citrus fruits, but more grapefruit than lemon. Very well balanced overall. On the palate, the fruit is more candied, like chewy sweets, with a pinch of icing sugar, and rather discreet spices. The finish is fairly long but not interminable either, shortbread biscuits, braised chestnuts, a slice of lime and lemon tart.
In Short,
Glen Ord is a distillery that I like more and more, and here I found the nose and palate really close to perfection. The finish on the other hand is fine, but lacks a little power and length. It's a successful bottling, but it could have been really impressive with a slightly higher alcohol content. The price was attractive, but it's not really available any more, so you'll have to be smart to find the last bottles in stock at a reasonable price.
They have so much stock at Signatory Vintage that they're sharing it with their friends. First, they let La Maison du Whisky rummage around and come back with the Artist range, but now they're also welcoming Daily Dram colleagues into their homes, and letting them take off with a cask or two. This one is a Miltonduff aged in a single first-fill Sherry cask for 12 years. I don't know how many bottles were produced.
Let's Taste It :
The nose is very fresh and mellow, egg custard, brioche, roasted nuts, dates, butter-filled shortbread biscuits, grapes of all colours, golden tobacco, thick honey, a few redcurrants, a mint leaf, waxed wood. On the palate, it's even fruitier, figs, medlars, red apples and blackberry jelly. Brown sugar, soft caramel, some light spices, dark chocolate, dried sultanas. Quite a long finish, very correct, dried fruits, elastic leather, the tobacco turns brown, a few vegetal notes, a grain of coffee.
In Short,
The Sherry is not too overpowering, the character of the distillery is recognisable, and the whole is satisfying, with a slight complexity and a nice freshness. I would have preferred a higher alcohol content, however. The price is not really attractive, so I suggest waiting for a promotion.
It was back in 2020 that the crafty Benjamin Kuentz revealed his plans for a whisky aged under the sea. At the time, it wasn't necessarily an idiotic attempt, as barrels had been lowered under the sea in collaboration with Amphoris, a slightly mad company, and La Prohibition, a whisky bar in the heart of Paris. The next Batch, which dates from 2021, is already less interesting, because it wasn't casks but bottles that were plunged under the sea, 20 metres deep in the waters off the island of Ouessant in Brittany. It was this Batch that I tasted. Of the 800 bottles that were immersed, only 318 came out worthy of drinking. The whisky is 3 years old, which is very young, and was aged in simple Bourbon casks. It was immersed in the sea for one year, which seems a long time to me. The distillery involved is secret, but according to an auction website, it is Grallet-Dupic, a distillery in Lorraine that produces the Rozelieures brand. It doesn't say whether the whisky has been chill-filtered, coloured or not, or whether there's an ounce of peat inside. I think it's a product marketed for people who don't know anything about whisky, and so would never ask. On Whiskybase, it says that this product is Cask Strength and Single Cask, but I don't believe it. Cask strength whiskies that are 40° are at least 30 years old, and they are never exactly 40°.
Let's Taste It :
The nose is fairly sweet, delicious vanilla, shortbread pastry, some yellow fruits, plums, pears, bananas. But there's also a lot of unrefined Guerande sea salt, coarse salt, foam, sea spray, sea breeze, it's intense. Guano and limestone, mud and shellfish. On the palate, it's disappointing, you get the impression of drinking seawater, there's a hint of vanilla, but that's all, salt is all that's left, but with a slight bitterness, seaweed, sea urchins, light spices. The finish is very short, falling apart quickly, quite rocky, quartz, pebbles, sandstone, the bitterness is a little stronger, it feels like having gravel in your mouth.
In Short,
Out of respect for my readers, and out of respect for Whisky, I have to be honest. The nose seemed fine to me, you could really feel the Bourbon influence, and what's more there was a nice salty character. As soon as it hit the palate, however, it was a disaster, the aromas collapsing and leaving only alcoholic seawater. The finish is very short and bitter. Moreover, I was shocked to learn of the price of this very mediocre product, not even on a par with a Talisker Skye. This is an astronomical price, at which you can buy 25-year-old single casks from excellent distilleries. Don't buy a 3 year old at that price, I'm sorry but it's a rip-off, pure and simple. It's all the more outrageous given that Benjamin Kuentz has launched an online fundraising campaign to finance a new batch of this mixture. If he's getting funding, why are the bottles so expensive? I'm curious to know what his margin is.
There are 3 stills in the Shizuoka distillery, which opened in October 2016. The first, W, is wood-fired, the second, K, is a still that was used in the legendary Karuizawa distillery, and the third, S, is a Scottish Forsyth still. This expression blends unpeated and peated malt distilled in the K and W stills, followed by a second distillation in the S still. The barley used is of Scottish and Japanese origin, but German beer malt is also used. Next comes maturation, which must have lasted around 5 years. The number of bottles produced is unknown.
Let's Taste It :
Right away, juicy fruits, Comices pears, yellow apples, lychees, rice powder, talcum powder, steamed rice, tofu, cake dough, shortbread biscuits, a pinch of icing sugar, mint leaves, a dash of vanilla, lime zest, crushed almonds, very lightly roasted. On the palate, buttery biscuits, very diluted coconut milk, fried eggs, herbaceous notes, leeks, fennel, sunflower oil, squeezed citrus fruit, lively spices with white pepper and a few cloves. Very long, well controlled finish, charcoal in almond milk, lemon slices, walnut oil, soaked biscuits.
In Short,
I found it very interesting, really original and typical. I often find that Japanese whisky isn't all that Japanese; it's more like Scotch whisky, but more balanced and smooth. Here, there's no doubt about it, it's definitely Japanese, it's really got an identity of its own that I really like. Unfortunately, this one is sold out, but similar products come out every year, the price is high, but acceptable.
In 2016, and again in 2017, the distillery launched two 18-year-old expressions, the first is aged entirely in Bourbon Casks, that's this one, the other is finished in Sauternes wine casks and the alcohol content is slightly lower. At the time, we thought there would be one batch a year, but that stopped suddenly. Nearly six years ago, I take a sample, which has been lying dormant on my shelves all this time. Now it's time to open it. It's a limited edition of 3,000 bottles.
Let's Taste It :
Mellow and indulgent vanilla, egg custard, candied citrus fruits, exotic fruits, pineapple, papaya, almond brioche, lemon tart, a little mineral touch, gypsum, limestone, quartz. Melted butter, toast soaked in sugar milk, calissons d'Aix. Sunflower oil. On the palate, honey mixed with rose water, almond milk, coconut ball. Virtually non-existent spices. Very long finish, controlled from start to finish, shortbread biscuits. Earthy notes, fruit cake, yellow plums, candied bananas. Whipped eggs.
In Short,
At the time, I didn't think this one would turn out to be a rare gem, so I didn't rush out to buy and test it. Today I regret it, because it's an excellent product, just the way I like Bourbon cask ageing without peat, full of exotic fruit and with a slight coastal freshness. This shows the quality of this distillery, but unfortunately they are now releasing older expressions, hence more expensive, and above all with complex finishes that don't really appeal to me. At the time, the price was high, but acceptable; it's more expensive today, obviously.
Bourbon and Sherry Casks, Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon Wine Finish
Original Bottling
Limited Edition
Single Malt
Bottled in 2020
Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength
Peated around 55 ppm
This is my third try in the Red range, which includes products first matured in Bourbon barrels and then finished in red wine casks. Here, it's a bit special, they didn't just use Bourbon casks, but also Sherry casks, and this maturation lasted 10 years before finishing for 3 years in Cabernet Sauvignon casks from Chile, an estate called La Bodega Mont Gras Intriga Estate, located at the foot of the Andes Cordillera. 9,000 bottles went on sale in early 2020.
Let's Taste It :
Solid and full-bodied nose, structured around fine and airy vanilla, robust peat, and mouthfuls of redcurrants, fresh watermelon, blueberries and blackberries. Well-ripened quetsches, minced tobacco leaves, lime zest, spicy touches. White grapes. On the palate, red fruits dominate, meat juice, viandox, raspberry liqueur, beef jerky, chalky charcoal and powerful spices, cold ashes. Quite a long, crimson finish, like descending into a coal mine, the fruit is dry, almost hard, damp black earth, cloves, dark chocolate.
In Short,
As I've already said, I'm not a fan of this series, I find the finishes too rich, they distort the Longrow profile a little. But here, I liked the freshness of the nose, it was more redcurrants than heavy and fermented fruit. On the palate, the things I don't like so much came back, but I recognise the quality of the product, and I understand why it appeals. It's the price that's really embarrassing here, it's a good whisky, but certainly not a sublime masterpiece, and yet it's being sold at the price of an exceptional one, at some point they're going to have to calm down.
