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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Got given a bottle of 'Speymalt from Macallan Distillery, 1988 Vintage', put together by Gordon & MacPhail.
Never heard of Gordon & MacPhail before, anyone drank anything by them, or indeed this one?

Not in the mood to open it just yet but I'm quite excited!
Was given to me for my birthday, I was born in 1988 hence the choosing of that vintage by my friend. Nice touch.
 
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.
 
Ah, I thought that was the case; or something like that.
Yeah, I drink a lot of Macallan - Keep meaning to buy a bottle, but I always just end up going for the Doublewood, Tomintoul or Aberlour instead.
Think I might have to go and grab a glass and give this a whirl.
 
Rather than start a new thread I thought I'd do a search and found this one.

Due to the festivities I now have a bottle of Chivas Regal 12 and haven't the foggiest how to get the best out of it.
Is mixing a bad idea with whisky?, if so is that merely due to the usual hue and cry from the purists or is there a more scientific reason?
How can I start of gently with this stuff?, I'd rather not have too much on my first go.

Cheers!
 
Lol i've been on the Chivas Regal 12yr too. It's basically the same as JD! I've been adding lemonade to it, true whisky bummers won't like it (the lemonade that is, not the whisky - although they probably won't rate it very high either, I don;t think it's that nice tbh - infact it NEEDS something added to it).
 
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BloodyL said:
Rather than start a new thread I thought I'd do a search and found this one.

Due to the festivities I now have a bottle of Chivas Regal 12 and haven't the foggiest how to get the best out of it.
Is mixing a bad idea with whisky?, if so is that merely due to the usual hue and cry from the purists or is there a more scientific reason?
How can I start of gently with this stuff?, I'd rather not have too much on my first go.

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Never had that particular whisky, but yes...mixing isn't a bad thing at the end of the day. This very much depends on the whisky however, as different flavours mix with different additions. Those who scream "WHISKY SHOULD NEVER BE MIXED!!!!" ought to seek some surgery in removing their heads from the rear nethers.

For example, I've almost finished a bottle of "Woodford Reserve", an astounding good Bourbon, and half of that has been mixed with Coke. Alone on ice, it's an amazingly smooth and flavoursome drink. With Coke, it's actually less pleasurable than the cheaper Jack Daniels or Jim Beam. Straight, it's a better whisky. Mixed, not quite the character of the others I mentioned. That doesn't stop it being better overall, though. There are no hard and fast rules, here.
 
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