The OCUK Whisky (and Whiskey) review thread

I thought I'd reviewed this one but looks like not.

Isle of Jura 10yo 40% (this was £16.99 for 70cl with a free hip flask from netto. Bargain.)
n. Vanilla and heather at first. Deeper inhaling brings toasted barley and brown sugar. 23
t. At first, the faintest hint of earth. It's hidden with a bigger mouthful, which leads to something akin to Terry's chocolate orange. Something about it also reminds me of those licorice allsorts with the little blue bits on. 23
f. Seville orange peel bits from a marmalade. Fades to the aftertaste of fishermans friends. The brown sugar makes a reappearance. 21
b. What the heck happened here? This doesn't seem like the last Jura 10 I had. It's not even like when I first opened the bottle. This seems to have benefited from a little breathing time. 22
Overall 87.
 
Well - as Christmas is coming - I thought I'd post a quick summary; a buyers guide of sorts. Unfortunately it's kind of served to show how much this thread has been dominated by me ;).

Recommendations with price guide for Christmas 09:
I've added whiskies scored 90 or higher here, plus cheaper whiskies scoring above 85.
I've also added a taste rating of A to D, where A is light or malty (e.g Glenturret, Auchentoshan) and D is very strong flavoured - spicy smoky or peaty (e.g. Laphroaig, Highland Park). If buying presents and you don't know whether someone likes particularly light or strong whiskies, I'd recommment staying in the B-C range.

Lagavulin 16 yo. Price £40. Scores: 95 (2007 bottling, Uriel), 97 (2009 bottling, Uriel). Taste rating D
Ardbeg Corryvreckan. Price £60. Scores 97 (Uriel, revised from 94 after re-tasting). Taste Rating D
Ardbeg 10 yo. Price £28. Scores: Recommended (no score, NickK) 95 (Uriel) Taste Rating D
Bowmore Tempest 10yo. Price £45. Score 94 (Uriel). Taste Rating D
Longmorn 16 yo. Price £50. Scores: 90 (colinuk). Taste rating C-D (my guess from his description)
Talisker 10 yo. Price £25 Scores 90 (Uriel) Taste Rating D
Monkey Shoulder. Price £20. Scores 90 (Uriel) Taste Rating B
Glen Moray (No age statement). Price £16. Scores: 88 (Uriel) Taste Rating A
Jura 10 yo. Price £16. Score 87 (Uriel) Taste Rating B-C.

The original post has been edited to include them. Any other whisky enthusiasts want to chime in with some reviews and I'll update in time for Christmas?

Edit: Recommended but not rated Royal Lochnagar Select Reserve (sonear fifer), Ardbeg Uigadail (Uriel), Highland Park 18 yo (Uriel)
 
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Japanese malt whiskies are generally pretty good.

From what I remember, Yamakaze 10yo is quite similar to a lot of Scotch Speysides.

Edit: Found some notes I'd not posted -

Clynelish 14 yo 46%
n. delicate heather honey and pther floral scents Hints of cinammon. 24
t. spicy with some oak, lightly charred. Peppery heat. 22
f. peppery heat continues. Resinous woody aftertaste lingers. 22
b. complex, with a great surprise going from the nose to the palatte. 23
Overall 91.

Price is normally about £30 but I got it for much less when Thresher shut down.

I'm going to stick that one in the recommended list.
 
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Gordon and MacPhail are an independent bottlers. Most people will have heard of Macallan though. They produce high quality speyside whisky usually matured in sherry casks.

The late great Michael Jackson (not that one :rolleyes:) rated Macallans very highly.
 
Zip said:
Just to get things straight.

Whisky = Scotch.
Whiskey = The rest

If not then please explain :o

Now were does bourbon fit in to all this? :o

Non drinker here :o
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Basically:
Scotch whisky
Irish whiskey
American whiskey
Canadian whisky
Japanese whisky
English whisky (only just recently)
Welsh whisky
European whisky (usually)
Rest of the world whisky

(Having just had a sweep of Jim Murray's 2010 Whisky Bible)

Bourbon is a type of American whiskey but there are others. An American or Irish single malt is still whiskey.

The main reason is tradition.

So it would be more accurate to say
Irish & American = whiskey
The rest = whisky

In other news went around to my uncles for boxing day. He'd got about six single malts and some tasting glasses ready for me. I must be getting a reputation...
 
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I can try and spec you something close to home:

Bakery Hill distillery in Australia reputably (I've not tried them but seem some good reviews) do some lovely single malts. http://www.bakeryhilldistillery.com.au/Buy-Whiskies.aspx

The classic single malt and the peated malt (if you would prefer something smoky) are both supposed to be very good.

What's your price range and how much are some of the more usual whiskies over there?
 
machinauk said:
I quite like it, not bad for a blend - in fact its one of the better blends ive had, although of the top of my head i cant remember what it tastes like - guess thats tonights drink sorted, think i have half a bottle left :p
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Chivas Regal 12yo? Quite smooth, bland and inoffensive IIRC. It's not a bad one for someone who doesn't often drink whisky but will get left behind by people moving onto more complex flavours. The older Chivas Regals are pretty good.
 
Well just opened up a Laphroaig Quarter Cask, given to me by my parents for Christmas.

I'm not gong to publish the tasting notes yet. Will have to taste against a few drams I'm very familiar with and think about the score (it's an excuse to get hold of some lagavulin 16 anyway...). Safe to say I'm going to be scoring it very high - 95 minimum.

At less than £24, it's got to go on my highly recommended list.
 
Gadge said:
whats the vol on that? arnt Cask whisky's 50% min?
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48%. The 'cask' bit isn't because of the strength. It's because it's matured in quarter sized barrels.

The strongest cask strength whiskies I've tried have been upwards of 60%.

Edit: I posted Jura 10 tasting nots earlier in the thread. It's not at all peaty but I like it. Very different from Highland Park.
 
Updating recommendations for Christmas this year. OP updated.

Get your reviews in (with scores and I'll add to the list).

The recommended list to date:

Lagavulin 16 yo. Price £40. Scores: 95 (2007 bottling, Uriel), 97 (2009 bottling, Uriel). Taste rating D
Ardbeg Corryvreckan. Price £60. Scores 97 (Uriel, revised from 94 after re-tasting). Taste Rating D
Ardbeg 10 yo. Price £28. Scores: Recommended (no score, NickK) 95 (Uriel) Taste Rating D
Bowmore Tempest 10yo. Price £45. Score 94 (Uriel). Taste Rating D
Bruichladdich Rum Cask 17yo 46%. Price ?. Score 91 (Uriel). Taste Rating B
Clynelish 14yo. Price £30. Score 94 (Uriel). Taste Rating C
Glen Moray (NAS). Price £16 to £25. Score 88 (Uriel). Taste Rating B
Isle of Jura 10yo. 40%. Price £16 to £25. Score 97 (Uriel). Taste Rating C
Longmorn 16 yo. Price £50. Scores: 90 (colinuk). Taste rating C-D (my guess from his description)
Talisker 10 yo. Price £25 Scores 90 (Uriel) Taste Rating D
Monkey Shoulder. Price £20. Scores 90 (Uriel) Taste Rating B
Glen Moray (No age statement). Price £16. Scores: 88 (Uriel) Taste Rating A
Jura 10 yo. Price £16. Score 87 (Uriel) Taste Rating C.
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I have a bunch of extra tasting notes to add sometime soon.
 
I made one last night. Honey, Lemon, hot water and Famous Grouse.

I'd be interested to do a peaty version (maybe Laphroaig?), but would struggle to justify using a single malt on it. Black Bottle might do the job.
 
I use hot water. You've just given me an idea though: using cask strength whisky warmed up you could have a flaming toddy. That'd clear the head...
 
Ahh - forgot this thread would have moved to La Cuisine.

I've been slack on the whisky recently. Cash flow issues mean I've not bought much recently.

Still have a few unopened bottles of this and that to review.
 
VeNT said:
is Monkey Shoulder REALLY better than Jura?
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Depends on my mood but it's not bad at all.

It's an all malt blend of Glenfiddich, Balvenie and Kininvie. Reminds me of Glenfiddich 15 yo. So if you prefer that sort of whisky to the stuff that comes from Jura distillery - yes.

In fact, given the relative prices I'd take a bottle of Monkey Shoulder over Glenfiddich 12yo maybe even 15 yo.

I like variety though so I'd rather have all of the above.
 
I see Lidl's £13.49 blended Queen Margot 8yo just took an award at an international spirits competition. Might be worth a pop. If it's not great you've not lost much.
 
Uriel said:
I see Lidl's £13.49 blended Queen Margot 8yo just took an award at an international spirits competition. Might be worth a pop. If it's not great you've not lost much.
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I went looking in Lidl for this and they didn't have it.

They did have a 5 yo blended malt called Glen Orchy for the same price. I'm actually impressed with it. It's comparable with a ligher Speyside malt or a lowlander. I'd put it on par with something like Monkey Shoulder. Not bad for under £14.

Edit: Turns out Glen Orchy 5 yo has won awards and got an 88.5% review in Jim Murray's Whisky Bible.
http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-re...ands-nearly-10-times-the-price-236912201.html

In other news, I will be heading for Bakewell's Wee Dram fest on 18th October. £23, includes a Glencairn tasting glass to take home, 5 hours and as many whiskies in the time as you care to try. Sells out every year months in advance, including this one.
 
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Off to the Wee Dram Fest in Bakewell today. It sells out months in advance every year.

Basically you pay the £25 entry fee and then for up to 5 hours a bunch of drinks companies and distilleries (about 15-20 stallholders) repeatedly pour you small samples of (10ml IIRC) their finest wares (about 90% single malts and a handful of other stuff). There's no ticketing system so all samples are included in the entrance fee.

If I post this afternoon, don't expect it to be especially coherent.

Edit: Okey dokey. After a lot of different whiskes tried during the day I would say the highlights for me were: Ardbeg Corryvreckan, Glengoyne 21yo, Kilchoman Madeira Cask and two independent bottlings from Ardmore (one peated 1996 single cask from G&M and one unpeated 1997 single cask from the Wee Dram).

I bought a bottle of the unpeated Ardmore (wee dram's own bottling)
 
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I'd heard the Ileach has been inconsistent over the years. Probably whatever they can get hold of and it's luck of the draw. There were some very good bottlings in the mid 2000s. I tried some at the Wee Dram fest this year and it was... alright I suppose. Fairly nondescript Islay. Not too heavy on the caramel though. Caramel often ruins a whisky and I didn't detect it at all. It may be that we've tried different batches though.

Just ordered some Longrow Gaja Barolo finish from an Italian whisky shop. Tried it a few years ago and regretted not buying a bottle. Very difficult to get hold of in the UK now but there are still some stocks abroad at decent prices.
 
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