Nikka from the barrel 51.4%

Nose: sherry fruit, just beginning-to-toast marshmallows, bubblegum, sugar cane. Super hot and biting on the palate with the sherry eventually fading to powdered sugary base-ball-card bubblegum. With water: nose: menthol, cocoa nibs, espresso, black raspberry preserves, damson plums. Palate adds vanilla extract, licorice root, star anise. More water brings out aromas of wheated bourbon: sweet cereals, caramel, golden sugar, cherry jelly, and toasted oak, with the palate largely following suit. Still hot though, lets add even more water. Noses on blueberries, very underripe plums, gets very tart on the palate like tart cherries and black currants. Very interesting development. It’s not the yummiest whisky, but it’s very intellectual, and certainly worth trying. Also it’s (relatively) dirt cheap at 26.25 GBP for a 500 mL bottle at an online retailer I just googled.

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Lagavulin 21 YO OB

Nicoise olives, olive oil, peat, smoldering wet coals, sourwood honey and toffee, vanilla, coffee, damp earth, charred beef and teriyaki sauce, very subtle white peach and cantaloupe melon, some charred corn tortilla with black beans.  (alright, maybe at this point I was just hungry). Point is, this stuff is outstanding. Briney, oily, earthy, complex, and yummy.

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Bruichladdich 20 YO 3rd Ed.

Casked by my sensei into Madeira casks for a final five days of ACEing.

Aloe, cinchona, gentian and other medicinal herbs, no doubt from the Madeira, but amazing in their presence after a mere five day ACE. Molten brown sugar comes and goes. Shows some melons, dried oranges, coffee and cherry pie (Cherry compote, butter, flaky pastry). Develops chili oil, licorice rout, echinacea, green cardamom and wintergreen on the palate, finishing on lingering vanilla extract.

I know I’ve already said it twice, and in capital letters no less, but this whisky is an ACE.

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Murray McDavid Mission Glendronach 1976 27 YO 46% Sherry cask

Typical sherry nose but showing some autumn wheat, bergamot, slate, salt, a little damp earth, some cardamom, tarragon, turmeric, and pink peppercorns. Really high quality sherry on this one. Hints of coffee, crisp fall leaves, Bosc pears, and still-dirty freshly-picked mint.

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Murray McDavid Mission Dallas Dhu 1974 29 YO 46%

Noses on right tangerine, soft lemon, and white peony. Very curious mouthfeel; sharp on entry than turns ultra soft on a dime. Very fleshy, with tart peaches and lime cordial, tangerine juice and vanilla.

Heavenly. I could drink this malt all day every day.

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Glen Goyne 1969… or ’67, I forget. OB Wood Box 29 YO 52.5%

Big nose of sherry and butter, just velvet on the nostrils. Nosing cinnamon and baked apples, vanilla and black pepper. There’s no alcohol, no tannins, not a single note to detract from the perfection of this dram. Curiously sour on the palate. Sour attack on cherry pie, super juicy sour red currants, just perfect. Develops into something much darker now, showing demerera rum, molasses, and chocolaty sherry notes. Around the edges it shows notes of papaya, guava, and pink, fleshy lychees.

A real stunner.

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Edinbourough International Festival bottling of Springbank OB NAS 2009 40% Blended Scotch Whisky

Probably 8-12 Years Old. It has a nice texture to begin with, good entry on rich caramel and sherry with some subtle chili pepper notes. Develops some slightly fishy notes towards the middle and finishes on creamy milk chocolate.

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Duncan Taylor Auld and Rare Glen Grant 1970-2008 37 YO 51.5%

Nice caramel with some veiling, slightly tannic wood. Pretty closed with boozy top-notes of mint and eucalyptus but not directly smelling of alcohol. With water it develops some interesting bitter dried orange peel and super jammy cherry notes. Very freshly caramelized sugar develops and dark, earthy dirt is revealed underneath.

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Jura Prophesy

Honey and caramel backbone with apricots and pineapple providing a bright, acidic note. A taste of pine, cedar, and complex wood fire smoke, with lingering pears in syrup.

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Springbank OB 1962-1991 29 Y.O.

Big demerera sugar up front- sweet and fruity, sherry fruits that is: stewed plums, red grapes and wild cherries. Leather, polished furniture, heavy oak and sawdust. On the palate it shows an  almost fernet-like note; menthol and cola with with a constant stream of herbal, vegetal notes. Showing marigolds, pea tendrils, birch sap, haricot-verts, fennel pollen, cardamom, and finishing on this beautiful, big and clear lemon and honey note.

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