The OCUK Whisky (and Whiskey) review thread

[Uriel]

The Longrow Red series is worth a go. Every year they release a limited edition whisky under the name - a peated Campbeltown finished in red wine casks (6 years in bourbon, 5 in a different red wine or thereabouts). Some of the early bottlings were excellent. Later ones still good but last couple of years haven't really stood out for me.

A few years ago Longrow CV was available in the £30-40 range. It was a no age statement whisky but actually contained a mixture in the 6-14 year old range. It's been replaced by 'Longrow Peated Whisky'. I've seen claims that it's basically the same thing rebranded. CV offered excellent bang for buck (I'd put it on par with Laphroaig Quarter Cast) but I've not got around to trying the replacement yet.

Longrow's peaty flavour is a little different from Islay whiskies. It's perhaps earthier (maybe even dirtier) and less medicinal, iodiney or smokey). Worth a try.

It has to be said - I'm a bit of a sucker for wine cask aging or finishing of whisky. The wine quite often comes through most strongly in the finish. Somewhere amid the peat smoke a hint of the fruitinesss of the wine comes in and, with good examples, the finish can develop into something resembling the wine and only a hint of the whisky flavour.

 

[Uriel]

What size are those sample bottles?

 

[Uriel]

Took delivery of my Glencairn Whisky glasses yesterday and sampled my Auchentoshan Heartwood. Made I bit more of an occasion than drinking from a normal tumbler.

That's one thing I like about the Wee Dram Fest in Bakewell. £20-something entry (it's gradually creeping up year on year). You get a glencairn glass included in the price to take home with you.

And then there's the small matter of 5 hours and unlimited 1cl tasting samples of a huge selection of [mainly single malt] whisky included in the price...

 

[Uriel]

Cheaper sherried malts sometimes use sulphur candles to preserve the casks in transit before they are used to age the whisky. Whether you can detect the sulphur or not is genetic - but most people that can detect it find it unpleasant. Think a faint whiff of match heads - does that sound like the sort of glue you're thinking of?

I had a dram of Tomintoul 14yo a few nights ago. I'm not usually that much of a Speyside fan but it was very tasty indeed.

 

[Uriel]

Just picked up Ben Bracken 22yo Islay Single malt for £45 from Lidl. It got the Winner - World Whisky Awards Best Islay over 21 year old - which is impressive until you see that there are no Gold or Silver entries in that category. Either the competion was spectacularly bad - or it was the only entry in the category...

 

[Uriel]

Just picked up Ben Bracken 22yo Islay Single malt for £45 from Lidl. It got the Winner - World Whisky Awards Best Islay over 21 year old - which is impressive until you see that there are no Gold or Silver entries in that category. Either the competion was spectacularly bad - or it was the only entry in the category...

Scratch that. It got winner - Best Islay overall too. Meaning it beat Ardbeg 10, Corryvreckan, Ugadail and Lagavulin 16 in panel based blind taste test.

I've not tried it yet but a colleague has - he reckons it's probably a Bowmore and certainly worth the money. Others seem to think a Laphroaig.

 

[Uriel]

That's interesting, big result to beat out all those big names. Have you tried it yet? Thoughts? Have you tried Uige or Corryvreckan before?

Sorry I was a bit slow replying.

I'm fairly familiar with Uigedail and Corryvreckan. Got a bottle of the latter on the go and have owned the former.

The Ben Brackent 22yo isn't bad at all - but it's not the greatest £45 whisky I've tried - not bad but not spectacular either. It certainly doesn't 'move' me in the way that a Lag 16 or Corryvreckan might. It's 40% and chill filtered. My guess is it might have done more for me at 43-36% and non-chill filtered.

But I guess I like a bit of peaty, smoky reek to my Islays. It's more subtle than that. If you like subtler Islays it might be worth a go. The nose isn't that powerful and it's got that Laphroaig-like medicinal quality rather than all-out fire.

 

[Uriel]

Nice collection, did you try the Hazelburn CV yet? Or the Glenmo 25?

For the Bowmore's I think it's generally the case that if it was distilled in the 70s it is pretty special (or the 60s = legendary)

All the Springbank Distillery CV bottlings were superb. The Longrow especially.