Caol Ila 29 year old 1990 Gordon & MacPhail, batch 19/126 for Taiwan

(Caol Ila cluster homepage)

You didn't think I was going to leave you with just a bunch of teenage Caol Ilas, did ya? 2024's Caol Ila cluster will be more varied and may include some older stuff because this year's CI mini-cluster has left me with mixed feelings, much like 2023 itself. There were a few very good pours in the bunch, but I'm a bit troubled by the aggressiveness from the majority of the casks here. To experience such oak-juice-styled whiskies from two classic independent bottlers leaves me even less interested in buying whiskies blindly now. Of course, once I sample anything good here, the whisky has been sold out for years. So my bottle purchases will remain happily moderate.

Back to the whisky at hand. It's time to wrap up this mini-cluster with a 29 year old refill hoggie from the Port Askaig distillery. Life was pretty good when I was 29 and full of spirit, so my expectations of this whisky are cautiously optimistic. That makes sense to me.

Distillery: Caol Ila
Region: Islay
Owner: Diageo
Independent Bottler: Gordon & MacPhail
Range: Connoisseurs Choice
Age: 29 years (1990 - 12 July 2019)
Maturation: refill hogshead
Cask #: batch 19/126
Outturn: 219 bottles
Exclusive to: Taiwan
Alcohol by Volume: 51.7%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

The nose centers on a graceful mix of sandalwood, peaches, apricots, almond extract, and bonfire embers. Notes of citronella, saline, and black walnuts arrive after 45 minutes. The palate is full of toasty goodness (nuts, oak, peat), lemon candy, cara cara oranges, and guava juice. Its smoke drifts between bonfire, barbecue, and seaweed styles over time. There's sooooo much citrus in the finish, as well as a few dried apricots and dried apples too. The barbecue-ish smoke lingers in the background.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or ¾ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

Smoke rolls into the nose darker and sootier now, with citronella and pineapple beneath. Smaller notes of brown sugar and ocean appear later. There's less fruit and heftier smoke on the palate. It's sweeter and more acidic as well. It finishes with lemons, salt, wood smoke, and a slight bitterness.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

In lieu of finishing my personal life on a high note on the last day of 2023, I'm ending this year’s whisky tastings with a gem. I adore this stuff, in fact the first note I wrote about the palate is, "Oh shit." Period included. Once diluted, it's good, but when neat it's fabulous. A sucker for the guava, peaches, sandalwood, seaweed, and black walnuts, I am raising my second glass of this Caol Ila to you my great readers and wishing you all a lovely 2024.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ???
Rating - 91 (neat)

Caol Ila 16 year old 2002 Gordon & MacPhail, cask 8380

(Caol Ila cluster homepage)

After a slew of sherry cask Caol Ilas, this cluster's final three members are sherry-less. Yesterday's first-fill bourbon barrel was a sweetie pie. Tomorrow's refill hoggie is ??????. Today's CI comes from another first-fill barrel, and I'm really hoping the US oak doesn't overpower the Islay goodness. Wish me luck.....

Distillery: Caol Ila
Region: Islay
Owner: Diageo
Independent Bottler: Gordon & MacPhail
Range: Connoisseurs Choice
Age: 16 years (9 September 2002 - 23 April 2019)
Maturation: first-fill bourbon barrel
Cask #: 8380
Outturn: 206 bottles
Exclusive to: US market
Alcohol by Volume: 54.9%
(bottle split with My Annoying Opinions)

NEAT

Ah, different than yesterday's barrel. The peat takes front stage in the nose with ocean, seaweed, earth, and a slight vegetal edge. Notes of orange peel, biscotti, and blueberry scone brighten and expand the experience. Biscotti shows up again the palate, along with almond butter, but it's the pristine combination of salt, wood smoke, and lime that lead the way. The long finish is all kiln, salt, and lime.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or < 1¼ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

The barrel sneaks up a little more at this dilution level. The nose now offers sugar cookies, cloves, black walnuts, and gentler peat. The palate becomes sootier and meatier, with more citrus and pepper. It finishes mossy, salty, tangy, and savory.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Classic Islay. Yeah, that's a generic conclusion, but this Caol Ila is comforting, familiar, reliable, and very good. I prefer it neat, where its leanness works best on my palate. The salt + kiln notes provide a strong frame for the other characteristics that pass through. It must be a great whisky to enjoy during an evening at the beach.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ???
Rating - 88

Caol Ila 14 year old 2003 Gordon & MacPhail, batch 18/005

(Caol Ila cluster homepage)

There have been a lot of sherry casks in this Caol Ila mini-cluster, so today's single malt, honed in a first-fill bourbon barrel, may be a nice change of pace. I'm hoping the 14 years it spent in American oak was enough time for the spirit develop, but so much that the barrel overwhelms its contents.

Sorry, that's it for the brilliant intro today, I've got two more CIs to consume!

Distillery: Caol Ila
Region: Islay
Owner: Diageo
Independent Bottler: Gordon & MacPhail
Range: Connoisseurs Choice
Age: 14 years (2003 - 9 March 2018)
Maturation: first-fill bourbon barrel
Cask #: Batch 18/005
Outturn: 192 bottles
Exclusive to: US market
Alcohol by Volume: 56%
(bottle split with My Annoying Opinions)

NEAT

Yep, big spirit and big oak in the nose. There's the brine, seaweed, soot, and crumbling old rubber on one level; cinnamon roll, shortbread biscuits, and vanilla bean on another; lemon vinaigrette and orange marmalade on a third. Warm beachy peat meets sugar cookies in the palate, with hints of cream soda and raspberry jam in the background. It finishes similarly, with the berry fruitiness and beachy peat. It gains more seaweed with time.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or 1¼ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

Here are the nose notes in the order they arrived: soot, cream soda, fennel seed, new sneakers, and biscotti. There's a pair of pairs in the palate: vanilla ice cream and eucalyptus, then cherry cough syrup and a cigarette. It finishes with more salt and pepper on the peat, and a dash of almond extract.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This cask got really close to being overbaked. Thankfully, Caol Ila's stills cranked out a powerful poison that didn't collapse under the barrel char. It is more of a dessert CI than anything else. One could match it with Walker's shortbread, or dark chocolate and dried fruit, or all the above.

Tomorrow: another first-fill bourbon barrel, with two more years on it. Will it survive? Stay tuned.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ???
Rating - 86

Caol Ila 14 year old 2005 Gordon & MacPhail, cask 17600504

(Caol Ila cluster homepage)

So far from G&M: a refill butt that read like a first fill, and first fill butts that tasted like refills. Today's G&M CI twist? A refill sherry hoggie! Ah yes, the spice of life......or the spice of an aggressively toasted cask? Which will it be?

This is the first of a trilogy of Caol Ilas that I split with Mr. Opinions early in the Covid Age. The other two will follow...

Distillery: Caol Ila
Region: Islay
Owner: Diageo
Independent Bottler: Gordon & MacPhail
Range: Connoisseurs Choice
Age: 14 years (21 February 2005 - 3 April 2019)
Maturation: refill sherry hogshead
Cask #: 17600504 - Batch 19/052

Outturn: 327 bottles

Exclusive to: US market
Alcohol by Volume: 55.6%

(Many thanks to My Annoying Opinions!)

NEAT

This one's nose elicited a Kool Aid Man's "Oh Yeah" from me upon the first sniff. It starts with brine, moss, and oysters. Then lemon bars, mint leaf, and bay leaf. A little bit of cocoa powder in the background too. The VERY lemony palate dishes out mild sweets and peats. Tart raspberries rolled in fruity cinnamon. Sea salt and a dash of bitter herbs. It finishes with lemons and dried herbs, and a killer combo of sweet, salt, and soot.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or 1¼ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

The nose shifts a little bit here. Dried apricots and a hint of lychee meet butterscotch and a whiff of toffee. Something like peated fennel seed floats through the background. This diluted palate is more "-er" than the neat one, as in sweeter, bitterer, sharper, inkier, and seaweedier. Moderate sooty peat meets perky sweet citrus in the finish.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This gets very close to Goldilocks territory. (Goldie hit the Caol Ila pretty hard after her long prison stint for B&E.) It's just right. The spirit is older now, holding onto its pleasures while beginning to soften and take on subtle notes from the cask. I would have adored a bottle of this, so cough it up, Opinions, I know you have another one in there! The price was high, but so is the quality.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - $140, I think
Rating - 89

Caol Ila 10 year old 2006 Gordon & MacPhail, casks 306183+4 and 306186+7

(Caol Ila cluster homepage)

Yesterday's G&M Caol Ila came from a dark aggro "refill" sherry butt. Today's G&M Caol Ila comes from four first-fill sherry butts and is very light gold in color. This feels like a well-played trolling. Otherwise, was there a stinker or two in the quartet? It's the only 2006 Caol Ila with this 4-cask treatment.

Distillery: Caol Ila
Region: Islay
Owner: Diageo
Independent Bottler: Gordon & MacPhail
Range: Cask Strength
Age: 10 years (18 July 2006 - 30 May 2017)
Maturation: 4 first-fill sherry butts
Cask #s: 306183, 3061834, 306186, and 3061837
Outturn: ????
Alcohol by Volume: 60.2%

(Many thanks to My Annoying Opinions!)

NEAT

After the first sniff, I wrote down "Real refills!" before finding out that these were in fact first-fills. The nose shows off zippy youth, with wood smoke, lots of apples, a few pears, roses, anise, and oysters! The palate offers salty peat, bitter herbs, and candied lemon peels up front, and ink, sweet oranges, and roses beneath. And there's much less burn than expected. Charred seaweed, bitter herbs, peppercorns, and lemons finish it off.

DILUTED to ~50%abv, or 1¼ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

More cured meats and seaweed on the nose than raw peat. Apples, apricots, and cucumbers brighten it up. The simple but balanced palate delivers the salty peat, sweet apples, and sweet citrus fruits. Then the finish matches the palate.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This 10yo does indeed go the opposite direction, when compared to yesterday's Caol Ila. And compare them I am. The "refill" is hotter and woodier, while the "first-fill" is very spirit-forward and easier to drink. It reads like a 6 or 7 year old CI without the tongue-shaving edge that such baby whiskies can have. To answer my question from the intro, I don't think there was a bummer butt in the bunch, and the quadruplet was so well blended that it seems like a single cask. This tilts much more towards my preferred take on Caol Ila. (Mr. Opinions was even fonder of this bottle!)

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ?? or ???
Rating - 87

Caol Ila 14 year old 2007 Gordon & MacPhail, cask 311973 for Nickolls & Perks

(Caol Ila cluster homepage)

One day I woke up and realized, oh crap, there are six more Caol Ilas in the cluster and only six days left in 2023. So it is time for a Caol Ila sprint to the finish!

Four out of the six Caol Ila G&Ms came to Diving for Pearls courtesy of a fellow blogger, the other two are from bottle splits. I'll go in order of vintage, rather than age, to see if the results get less...contemporary...as I go back in time.

First up, another one of these "refill" sherry butts that disgorged whisky almost coffee-colored. I didn't expect to see that from G&M, but I guess everyone plays that game now.

Distillery: Caol Ila
Region: Islay
Owner: Diageo
Independent Bottler: Gordon & MacPhail
Range: Connoisseurs Choice
Age: 14 years (2007 - 27 April 2022)
Maturation: Refill sherry butt
Cask #: 311973 - Batch 22/100
Outturn: 352 bottles
Exclusive to: Nickolls & Perks
Alcohol by Volume: 56.3%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

Assorted roasted nuts and nut butters lead off the nose, followed by carob, leather, and molasses. Honey coats a gentle ocean-like peat early on, then a very grapey PX note slowly consumes it. Heavier, darker smoke hits the palate. Dried berries and dried blueberries roll around atop wasabi and woody bitterness. It reads hotter than the ABV. It finishes with cigarette ash, dried cherries, and a hint of the bitterness.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or 1⅓ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

Raisins, dried blueberries, and angel food cake push the peat further into the nose's background. The bitterness plays louder than the peat now in the palate, with cinnamon, dried apricots, and golden raisins in the midground. It finishes with ash and tannins.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

A direct relative of (and perhaps even oakier than) the previous Caol Ila, this whisky is another cask monster. The nose shows some promise, but even there the butt's previous contents (which smell a lot like Pedro Ximenez) gradually consume most of the CI character. Again, this is not my preferred style of Caol Ila (or most whiskies in general). How about the next one....?

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - was £115
Rating - 81

Caol Ila 11 year old 2010 Signatory, cask 316662 for The Whisky Exchange

(Caol Ila cluster homepage)

Oh hey look, another Caol Ila 2010 from Signatory! I promise this is the last one. In 2023.

All of four of these 2010 releases appear to have been part of a large parcel that Diageo distilled on the same day, September 22nd. Most spent their lives in refill sherry butts. Today's pour is the darkest Caol Ila I've ever had. My photo below is of no help, but check out the maroon hue here. Yep another "refill" cask. At least this one has an age statement in double digits, and the folks at TWE tend to pick well.

Distillery: Caol Ila
Region: Islay
Owner: Diageo
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Range: Cask Strength Collection
Age: exactly 11 years (22 Sep 2010 - 22 Sep 2021)
Maturation: Refill sherry butt
Cask #: 316662
Outturn: 558 bottles
Exclusive to: The Whisky Exchange
Alcohol by Volume: 58.2%
Chillfiltered? No
e150a? No
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

A very different nose than the others, the whisky feels like it's going to be a savory one, with early notes of beef stock, seaweed, wet sand, and roasted almonds. The sugars arrive 30ish minutes later: dried currants, Heath Bar, and peated banana pudding. Ferociously smoky, peppery, and sweet, this palate reminds one of young Ardbeg rather than CI. It's a bit challenging to glean specific characteristics, but I do find grape juice, tart citrus, and cinnamon red hots. A little bit of savoriness appears in the finish, tucked behind the salt, ash, mint candy, and black pepper.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or 1½ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

Drier peat smoke and hay greet the nose first, followed by lots of dried berries, seaweed, cinnamon, and milk chocolate. The palate has calmed, but is still very smoky for this distillery. Grape jelly rings and acidic sour lemons fill the background. It finishes with cigar smoke and mint candy.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This cask's very contemporary take on Caol Ila isn't my favorite, but it can certainly provide the illusion of warming up your guts in the winter. As mentioned above, this whisky would certainly thrill Ardbeg fans with all its Bigness. My preferred sherried CI style would be closer to cask 316659's, or a refill cask that hasn't been re-soaked.

In my next review, I'll leave Pitlochry behind and greet an Elgin bottler.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ???
Rating - 83

Caol Ila 9 year old 2010 Signatory, cask 316637

(Caol Ila cluster homepage)

Sorry for the blog silence this week. Between the dates, hangouts, and holiday parties this month, I'm feeling a bit boozed-out. It got to the point where I felt it, both physically and mentally, during the day. So I've had some alcohol-free nights, and they've been great! I've slept better too.

I do have one Caol Ila for ya this week, the last of the three 9yo 2010s from Signatory. The first one, a small batch, disappointed, while the second CI, a single butt, delighted. Today's pour is another refill sherry butt, and part of the same big parcel of 2010 Caol Ilas from Signatory's warehouses.

pic source

Distillery: Caol Ila
Region: Islay
Owner: Diageo
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Range: Cask Strength Collection
Age: 9 years (22 Sep 2010 - 27 Aug 2020)
Maturation: Refill sherry butt
Cask #: 316637
Outturn: 665 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 59.9%
Chillfiltered? No
e150a? No
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

The nose jumps out with barbecue pork, apples, honey, fruity cinnamon, and steel wool. Brazil nuts and anise populate the middle, while a few oysters stay in the background. The spirit defeats the cask in the palate. Big, bold (and kinda minty) beach bonfire peat leads the way. More chile oil than sugar here. Some tart raspberries arrive later on. It finishes with that beachy smoke, lots of salt, and a squeeze of lemon.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or 1¾ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

The nose turns more forest-like, leafier and earthier. Hints of cocoa powder and orange blossoms offer slight angles. The palate has become lighter, sweeter, and simpler. The chile oil remains, and a few flower blossoms join in. It finishes young and edgy, loaded with soot and salt, leaving one with a bit of cigar throat.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

While this whisky is more than a half-year older than cask 316659, it feels much younger. I appreciate the spirit leading the way, but it gets ashy and raw at times, getting a bit violent with the tastebuds. I'm also not crazy about the turn the palate takes once water is added. More complex and enjoyable when neat, the whisky also works better when aired out a bit, like 30+ minutes. Perhaps 316659 offered tough competition, but at their prices these 2010 casks had better deliver the goods at 316659's level.

Availability - Maybe a few bottles remain in Europe
Pricing - €125 - €140
Rating - 85

Caol Ila 9 year old 2010 Signatory, cask 316659

(Caol Ila cluster homepage)

This Caol Ila cluster started off weirdly with Wednesday's Signatory Small Batch, which was assembled from three refill hoggies and two refill butts. Today's CI comes from one of those butts' sibling butts, cask 316659, which isn't shocking because Signatory has already bottled more than seventy 2010 casks from the Port Askaig distiller. Like most of those casks, #316659 was a sherry butt. My experience with this parcel has been very positive so far. Will this cask continue up that route, or will it go weird like the Small Batch?

Most of these Siggy 2010 CIs
look just like this!
(pic source)

Distillery: Caol Ila
Region: Islay
Owner: Diageo
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Range: Cask Strength Collection
Age: 9 years (22 Sep 2010 - 10 Feb 2020)
Maturation: Refill sherry butt

Cask #: 316659

Outturn: 673 bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 60.1%
Chillfiltered? No
e150a? No
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

The nose is packed with dates and fresh apricots on top of heaps of almond butter and cashew butter. The toasted seaweed, moderate oceany peat, and hint of yeast have plenty of stamina too. Very nutty sherry merges seamlessly with a medium-peated spirit in the palate. Baking spices, figs, anise, blood oranges, and a hint of blossoms arrive with less heat than expected. The lean finish is all earth, salt, and a little bit of seaweedy peat.

Reducing it to the Small Batch's strength:

DILUTED to 47.1%abv, or 1⅔ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

The farmy, meaty nose also offers almond cookies, grilled pears, and seaweed. The palate becomes creamier, peatier, and earthier, with subtle notes of molasses and almonds. It finishes brighter and sweeter, with a slight tartness in the back.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This is about as good as it can get at 9 years old. The finish reads a bit limited, but everything else is great. I'd even say the palate is better than the nose. There's no rawness, no prunes, and very little burn. And there are dates, figs, blood oranges, apricots, and cashews. Would another year or two have improved it, or would the oak start to take over? I don't know, but if you have a bottle of this stuff, give it a hug and a pour.

Availability - Maybe a few bottles remain in Europe
Pricing - €130 - €160
Rating - 88

Caol Ila 9 year old 2010 Signatory, Small Batch 7 for Germany

(Caol Ila cluster homepage)

This is the first of three 9 year old Caol Ilas, distilled in 2010 and bottled by Signatory, that I'll be reviewing. Not really sure how I lucked into a trio of such splits, in three difference circumstances, but there it is. Comparison time!

I'm fascinated by this "Small Batch" range. Signatory already has its famous Un-Chillfiltered series whose bottlings have expanded from single casks to triple casks. This small batch edition was assembled from five casks. One thing that does set it apart from the UCFs is that it's from more than one cask type. Here it's a pair of refill sherry butts and three refill hoggies.

Let's see how lucky the German CI fans were...

source

Distillery: Caol Ila
Region: Islay
Owner: Diageo
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Range: Small Batch
Age: 9 years (2010 - 18 Mar 2020)
Maturation: 3 refill hogsheads + 2 refill sherry butts

Casks: 321718, 321722, and 321726 (hogs); 316635 and 316661 (butts)

Outturn: ????

Exclusive to: Alemania
Alcohol by Volume: 47.1%
Chillfiltered? No
e150a? No
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

Ah, super young in the nose. It starts off very grassy, with plenty of wet, sandy seaweed mixed in. After 20+ minutes of airing out, the nose starts to offer dried apricots, spearmint gum, and semisweet chocolate.

The palate is sooty and very ashy. Burnt grass, burnt anise, with some almond extract and sea salt. Floral notes take over and become almost perfumy.

It finishes simply with flowers, ash, and prosciutto.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Two surprises here. One, that I spelled "prosciutto" correctly on the first try. Two, this Caol Ila is a weird jumble. The nose is fine, though limited, while the palate reads like no actual blending was done, rather that a quintet of (troublesome?) casks were dumped together and diluted. I'm sure that's not the case, but it's what the result tastes like. It makes me yearn for one of the UCF Caol Ilas. Next up, a very different 9yo 2010...

Availability - Possibly still around in Germany
Pricing - around €65 - €75
Rating - 78

The 2023 Caol Ila mini-cluster!

Ah, Caol Ila, the faceless corporate factory that consistently cranks out high quality whisky with nary a human touch, like the MGP of Scotland, but different.

Constructed above the Sound of Islay, its namesake, the original Caol Ila distillery passed through several owners between 1846 and 1927 before being consumed by DCL to help fill the whisky giant's blends. The two-still distillery was flattened and then replaced by a six-still facility in 1972. Forty years later, additional washbacks were added to increase production capacity to meet the Johnnie Walker beast's needs.

A side result of being a popular blend ingredient, Caol Ila's single malt has found its way into the warehouses of all the major independent bottlers. In fact, by the end of this month Whiskybase's Caol Ila list will cross 5000 different whiskies.

While I do not possess 5000 Caol Ila samples, 🙁, I do have quite a few. This blog is a little short on CI posts (there are more Kilchoman reviews!) so let's fix that. As December offers perfect Caol Ila weather, I'm going to dish out a mini-cluster of Port Askaig's smoky stuff for the rest of 2023, specifically bottlings from Signatory and Gordon & MacPhail. A larger cluster will follow in 2024.

CAOL ILA 2023 CLUSTER ROLL CALL:

1. Caol Ila 9 year old 2010 Signatory, Small Batch 7 for Germany - "...a weird jumble."

2. Caol Ila 9 year old 2010 Signatory, cask 316659 - "...dates, figs, blood oranges, apricots, and cashews."

3. Caol Ila 9 year old 2010 Signatory, cask 316637 - "...ashy and raw at times [...] a bit violent with the tastebuds."

4. Caol Ila 11 year old 2010 Signatory, cask 316662 for The Whisky Exchange - "...would certainly thrill Ardbeg fans with all its Bigness."

5. Caol Ila 14 year old 2007 Gordon & MacPhail, cask 311973 for Nickolls & Perks - "...the butt's previous contents (which smell a lot like Pedro Ximenez) gradually consume most of the CI character."

6. Caol Ila 10 year old 2006 Gordon & MacPhail, casks 306183+4 and 306186+7 - "This tilts much more towards my preferred take on Caol Ila."

7. Caol Ila 14 year old 2005 Gordon & MacPhail, cask 17600504 - "The spirit is older now, holding onto its pleasures while beginning to soften and take on subtle notes from the cask."

8. Caol Ila 14 year old 2003 Gordon & MacPhail, batch 18/005 - "...more of a dessert CI than anything else."

9. ??? G&M ???

10. ??? G&M ???

Bourbon and Rye Day Friday: Orphan Barrel Rhetoric 23 year old bourbon

After posting a combined total of zero BARD Fridays from December 2017 to February 2023, I've been true to my word bringing Bourbon and Rye Day back with 11 of these posts in the past nine months. Though none are scheduled for the rest of this year, I do have a slew of American whiskies open, so the BARDs will return in 2024.

I've tried several Orphan Barrel bourbons, and wouldn't particularly recommend any of them, but I found Rhetoric 22yo pretty drinkable. So how about a sip or seven of Rhetoric 23? I had a good week, so I'm feeling naively optimistic.

Owner: Diageo

Brand: Orphan Barrel

Orphan: Rhetoric
Distillery: Old Bernheim
Type: Bourbon Whiskey

Mashbill: 86% corn, 8% barley, 6% rye
Age: minimum 23 years (1990-1993 to 2017)

Alcohol by Volume: 45.3%
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

The smells come in bundles. First there's pine, saline, and yuzu(!). Then cherry candy and furniture polish. Strawberry frosted cupcakes gradually turn into vanilla frosted cupcakes, with some limeade in the background. After 45 minutes, almond extract starts to take over.

There's less bitterness and sugar on the palate than I expected. It's slightly earthy. More honey than vanilla. Sweet oranges slide into tart limes. The background flavors in early sips are ginger and flowers. Later on, they're replaced by mint and root beer.

The finish gets wobbly with standard barrel char, overripe bananas, mint extract, and tannin-a-plenty.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Don't stop me if you've heard this before: The nose is the best part, by far. But the bourbon is......probably my favorite Orphan Barrel so far. Had the finish not deflated so abruptly, I'd offer some heavily-qualified raves for this Orphan. Tannin takeover is expected for a bourbon this old, in fact it often happens with bourbons half its age. That Rhetoric is still approachable at 23 years makes me wonder what these Old Bernheim barrels were like at age 15 (or 12 or 8). Possibly something like this?

Cheers! Welcome to December.

Availability - Secondary market
Pricing - ???
Rating - 82

Black Bull 40 year old blended whisky, Batch 4

Alright, I'll get right to it. Between 2009 and 2016, Duncan Taylor released seven batch of 40 year old blended whisky. This is batch four, bottled in December 2012.

To note, most of the distilleries utilized in these batches match those of Duncan Taylor's old Lonach series. For instance, batch four was assembled with Glenlivet, Bunnahabhain, Glen Grant, Tamdhu, Invergordon, and Port Dundas whiskies. Lonach fans will recognize those names. And all BB40 batches, but the last, had ABVs between 40.2% and 41.9%. DT must have had quite a stash of low strength oldies in their warehouses.

As has been stated elsewhere on the Intertubes, this batch 4 was priced at less than €300. Three years later batch 7 was €900. Meanwhile, batch 7 is still available in Europe seven years after its release. Someone got a little bold with their prices.

But ignoring that €€€ issue, I'm looking forward to this 40-year-old nearly-all-malt blend.

Brand: Black Bull
Ownership: Duncan Taylor

Type: Blended Whisky

Parts: 89/11 malt/grain

Age: minimum 40 years

Maturation: ???

Batch: 4

Outturn: ???

Alcohol by Volume: 41.9%

Chillfiltered? No
e150a? No
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

Black licorice slowly turns into black walnuts on the nose. Dunnage and soil. Amontillado and rye bread. Hints of tar, sandalwood, apricot jam, and sultanas drift by now and then.

The age and malt content give this whisky's palate more thickness than one would expect an ABV this low. It starts with dried herbs, toasty oak, and salted roasted almonds, followed by coffee and ginger powder. Hints of wormwood and old old old old sherry casks arrive 60+ minutes later.

Its finish is chocolatey, but with a bite, almost like Mexican chocolate. Pipe tobacco and bitter citrus make cameos.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

There's no doubt about the whisky's age, and sherry casks are in the mix. As with many very old spirits, this 40yo's nose at first stuns the drinker, then steals the show from everything that follows. While the palate is quite good, it can't compete. And the finish proves to be a bit shorter and shallower than expected. Though I (very sadly) don't have Black Bull 30 on hand for comparison purposes, I think it edges this batch of the 40 due to its fruit and power. But Duncan Taylor's blenders delivered great whiskies in both instances.

Availability - Secondary market?
Pricing - ???
Rating - 88

Black Bull 12 year old blended whisky (old label)

"Black Bull" carries a Testosterone-filled Grrrr Manly Grunt connotation, so it worked as a strong visual brand name for a Scotch whisky back in the 1860s, when the reality of the Scottish bovine was actually the shaggy, gorgeous stoner Highland Coo.

The Black Bull brand experienced peaks and valleys until it was purchased by Duncan Taylor in the 1990s. DT then gave the brand a reboot in the 21st century, offering NAS, 12yo, 18yo, 21yo, 30yo, and 40yo blends. Nearly all of the whiskies younger than 40 flexed a 50%abv, sherry casks, and a high malt content at a competitive price.

I reviewed the first batch of the 30 year old, which was nigh on divine, back in 2018, and thought I'd also reviewed my sample of the 12 year old. But to my surprise this year, I found that 12yo sample still filed away. So here it is, nearly nine years after it was bottled by Mr. Chemistry of the Cocktail himself:

Just a few things have changed since February 2015, but is the sample among those things???

Brand: Black Bull
Ownership: Duncan Taylor

Type: Blended Whisky
Parts: 50/50 malt/grain
Maturation: Malts: refill sherry European oak butts and refill ex-bourbon American oak hoggies. Grains: ex-bourbon American oak barrels.

Age: minimum 12 years

Alcohol by Volume: 50%

Chillfiltered? No
e150a? No
(thank you, Jordan!)

NEAT

Some bright produce appears in the early nose: cantaloupe, honeydew, cucumber, and orange peel. Marzipan, maple, and cinnamon rolls fill the middle. And a whiff of steel wool stays in the back. The palate arrives simple but solid. Barley sugar, honey, and lemon candy play up front, but never get too sweet. Quieter notes of peppercorns, herbal bitterness, and tannin spice it up a little. The sweetness and bitterness balance out in the finish, with peppercorns and lemon candy lingering on the tongue.

DILUTED to ~43%abv, or 1 tsp of water per 30mL whisky

At this more standard blend strength, the nose comes in more floral (mostly orange blossoms), and with a more noticeable Oloroso side. The palate picks up a zippier zing (an actual note I wrote), with menthol, ginger, and a bit more tannin. The finish keeps the light sweetness, but the oak takes up a little more space.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

At 50%abv, this is much better than any standard 12yo blend on the market, though that's not saying much nowadays. There's no raw heat present (possibly due to its nearly nine years in the sample bottle), and it's well-balanced with the casks doing just enough without crowding the spirits. So it's very drinkable. At 43%, it starts drifting closer to its 12yo contemporaries, but not too tragically. I hope Duncan Taylor hasn't tinkered with their recipe too much because I'd certainly consider getting a bottle of the current BB12.

Availability - this batch has likely sold out
Pricing - current batches: $40 - $60
Rating - 85 (neat)

Tamnavulin 1966-1990 Moon Import 10th Anniversary

Moon Import is an independent bottler better known by previous anorak generations than by more recent whisky lovers. In the 1980s and 1990s, Moon dished out old glories from Ardbeg, Glen Grant, Bowmore, Longmorn, Macallan, and Springbank. Their output has been much quieter over the past decade, though they seem to be connected to MASAM's bulbous bottles.

Today's 1966 Tamnavulin is probably the first (and last?) classic Moon Import whisky to pass though my liver. I tried it side-by-side with Monday's 22yo Tamnavulin, also bottled at 45%abv.

pic source

Distillery: Tamnavulin
Ownership then: Invergordon Distillers Ltd.
Ownership now: Emperador Inc. (via Whyte and Mackay Group)
Region: Speyside (Livet)

Bottler: Moon Import
Age: 23 - 24 years old (1966 - 1990)
Maturation: ???
Alcohol by Volume: 45%

(from a bottle split)

NOTES

My nose notes say "Very similar to the 22yo but gentler", but then list completely different characteristics. It's "fruitier, dustier, funkier". Apples and lychees mix with mint leaves, cinnamon, butterscotch, and whole wheat bread crust.

The palate starts of toasty and nutty, almost like a Fino. Then the tart nectarines and sweet oranges appear. Apples and chile oil follow later, with a whiff of smoke in the background.

Sweet + tart citrus and stone fruits receive a zing of heat from the chile oil in the finish.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This is a bright, fresh Speysider that I'd be happy to drink any day or evening. The fruits and nuts work very well together, offering a tastier and more balanced palate than the 22yo possessed. It's also very light and almost fragile. As with the 22yo, this bottle was opened seven months ago and the splits were promptly poured, so oxygen hasn't had the time to alter the liquid. Could 33 years in the bottle have softened the whisky? And who knows what its storage situation was for all that time. Did it once offer a bolder experience? If you've had a better experience with this whisky, please share in the comments!

Availability - Secondary market
Pricing - ????
Rating - 86

Tamnavulin-Glenlivet 22 year old Special Reserve

All of 57 years old, Tamnavulin is one of those youngish Scottish distilleries that never really burst into the single malt scene, similar to Pittyvaich and Mannochmore, instead serving as blend fillings. It's been part of Whyte & Mackay's less-than-sexy facilities, like Fettercairn (which I like) and Jura (which I don't). It was closed for nearly 12 years after W&M's purchase, reopening in 2007. About ten years after that some Tamnavulin NAS single malts started showing up on shelves.

But before it was acquired by W&M, back in the Invergordon Distillers days, some official "Tamnavulin-Glenlivet" malts appeared as far west as The United States. One of these was a 22-year-old Special Reserve.

There's not much to be found online regarding the 22yo, other than auction listings. Some of those pages state that this bottling was from the 1980s. If so, it would have been, 1988 or 1989, since distillation began in 1966. The American labels list volume in milliliters and strength in ABV, so I think the bottlings are actually from the early 1990s.

from the bottle being reviewed

In any case, I got in on a bottle split on a 22yo Special Reserve, as well as a split of a sparring partner, which I'll review later this week. First, the 22.

pic from Whiskybase

Distillery: Tamnavulin
Ownership then: Invergordon Distillers Ltd.
Ownership now: Emperador Inc. (via Whyte and Mackay Group)
Region: Speyside (Livet)
Age: at least 22 years old
Distilled: somewhere between 1966 and 1973
Bottled: somewhere between 1988 and 1995
Maturation: ???
Alcohol by Volume: 45%

(from a bottle split)

NOTES

The nose begins in an intriguingly unique fashion: something savory mixes with sesame seeds, pistachios, and chestnuts. Then it takes on more fun stuff like grapefruit, black walnuts, anise, and chocolate malted barley.

Unfortunately the palate REALLY doesn't compete with the nose. It's very bitter, with wormwood and bitter citrus. Then an over-baked bitter woodiness takes over. It needs more than 60 minutes (really) before it shifts gears. That's when the lime candy and tart apple cider appear.

Like the palate, the finish goes all in on bitterness. Later on it picks up notes of raw nuts, lime candy, and apples.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

I can confirm the bottle was opened seven months ago and the sample was poured immediately after opening, which is why I discounted the possibility of sample issues with the early problematic palate. As noted, it improves after an hour, so I'm glad I didn't give up on it. Still, the nose sets up expectations for something much better. Olde Tamnavulin can do better. Next up, an indie...

Availability - Secondary market
Pricing - ???
Rating - 82 (started in the 70s)

Benromach 35 year old

(Benromach cluster homepage)

After surveying newer young bottlings, and hoping dearly that the distillery doesn't screw up a great thing with too heavy of a reliance on active casks, I'm closing the cluster with generously aged Benromach, bottled by the current owners, but distilled by the previous regime. In the few, rare instances wherein I've sampled United Distillers-era Benromach, the spirit has read lighter and fruitier than G&M's version. And, to be honest, I've usually preferred the current heavier, peatier style. But I've never had 35-year-old Benromach. Until now.

Distillery: Benromach
Ownership: Gordon & MacPhail
Ownership at time of distillation: United Distillers
Region: Speyside (Findhorn)

Age: 35 years

Maturation: first-fill sherry casks
Bottled: 17 Sept 2015
Outturn: ????

Alcohol by Volume: 43%
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

Plums. Plums on the nose. REALLY good plums (that were in the icebox). Orange marmalade, almond butter, and nocino. Roses and dunnage. Balsamic vinegar and a hint of industrial funk.

The lightly sweet palate tilts more towards apricots and tart oranges. Little bits of dunnage and menthol. Pipe tobacco. A brisk herbal bitterness appears at the 45-minute mark, while the oranges and menthol combine and magnify.

It finishes with a pretty balance of soft sweetness and tartness. Oranges and apricot jam; hints of almonds and menthol.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

At 35 years, the UD distillate flaunts lovely bright fruits with flickers of darkness in the background. But 43%abv? G&M, why? So you could squeeze a couple dozen more bottles out of those casks?

It's still great whisky, but the palate has a slight thinness in its texture that feels like it's been chillfiltered or (surprise!) over-diluted. My goodness, what this whisky could have been...

I'll end this on a positive note. The oak was present but I liked what it contributed, and it never took away from the stone fruits. If you have a bottle, you may find that its whisky works best in springtime. Enjoy, indulge, and share!

Availability - a few bottles may remain in the primary market, more in the secondary
Pricing - anywhere from $750 to $1500
Rating - 89

Things I Really Drink: Benromach 10 vs Benromach 10 vs Benromach 10

(Benromach cluster homepage)

Ah, here we are, the real reason for this cluster, three different bottlings of Benromach 10 year old, with three different labels, and three different bottle shapes. And, yes, all three of today's pours are from my own bottles. There's the maroon-labelled edition, bottled in 2010; the chalky script and small dark label, bottled in August of 2019; and the current edition, with the white and red label, bottled in December 2020. They are all a mix of sherry and bourbon casks, bottled at 43%abv.

Benromach 10-year-old arrived in 2009, ten years after Gordon & MacPhail restarted the stills. The entire range kept the label style seen in the first bottled on the left in the picture below, though in different colors for different expressions. In 2014, Benromach shifted to the style seen in the middle bottle, just as the 15-year-old saw the light of day (or the fluorescents above the shelf). And when the 21-year-old arrived in 2020, the design changed again.

Shifts in packaging design often trigger expectations of changes to the products within, with Talisker and Arran being two examples I've explored previously. It's time to find out how reliable ol' Benromach 10 fared across one decade.

Forres Triplets

Benromach 10 year old bottled 2010	Benromach 10 year old bottled Aug 2019	Benromach 10 year old bottled Dec 2020
Nuts Nuts Nuts to the nose: hazelnuts, almonds, and pistachios. Brine, mint, and orange peel mix seamlessly with the peaty smoke. Limes, cantaloupes, and a smoky vanilla bean stay in the background.	Lovely smoke blankets the nose. Hot asphalt, dead leaves (and the dirty ground?), and dark chocolate fill the middle. Dried mango and dried cherries emerge with time.	This one's nose offers the most obvious Oloroso note, which balances well with an earthy peat. Grape jelly rings and mothballs stay in the background, and an apricot jam note appears after a while.
Much heavier smoke here on the palate, but wait, there's more! Hay, toasted oats, dried currants, dried blueberries, anise, and hint of sweet oranges mingle below.	The palate matches the nose's style well. Salty smoke, bitter chocolate, and orange peel up top; tart cherry compote on the bottom. The bitterness and tartness blend and expand after 30ish minutes.	It has more honeyed, vanilla US oak on its palate that the other two. But the dried cherries, ultra tart citrus, milk chocolate, and cayenne pepper keep the tannins in check.
It finishes with smoke from a spicy cigar, dark chocolate, and tart limes.	The smoke gets sootier in the finish, and has a good industrial touch to it. Hay, bitter citrus, and a smidgeon of sweetness round it out.	The sweetest of the three finishes, full of oranges, mellow peat, and a lil' cayenne bite.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Benromach 10 year old, bottled 2010 - Despite almost nine years in a sample bottle, this version has lost no oomph. The nose shows more balance than the busy palate, but everything works. At 43%abv, the whisky is light but not thin, though it does leave me thinking it could have been a real stonker at a higher strength.

Benromach 10 year old, bottled Aug 2019 - This terrific batch is as stellar as a 21st century 10yo 43%abv single malt can get. Yeah, it might have been better at 46%, but everything works so seamlessly here that I'm not going to grouse about it. Salt, smoke, bitterness, tartness, and sweetness all caught in a neat little delivery, perfect for this autumn. To think I bought this for $29.99, and to think I bought only one bottle.

Benromach 10 year old, bottled Dec 2020 - The most obvious and simplest of the trio, this batch seems to be composed of more active casks. Thanks to Benromach's spirit, it's still a good drink. Yet if the distillery pushes the oak any further, a very good single malt could be wrecked. I hope the blending team can get back to the 2019's style, and maybe they have in the three years since this batch. It'd be a shame for Benromach to join The Industry's ongoing oak extraction competition.

(In bigger news, Suzy Creamcheese actually stood still for a moment to express my very feelings about the winning batch. She's more difficult to photograph than the Loch Ness Monster, though more accurate at the litter box.)

All three of these bottlings proved to be very good, and thanks to the 43%abv, I was able to finish a Taste Off Trio without being knocked out for the night. Each batch had its own character, though the first two possessed what some of us consider an "old school" style, with fruits integrating well with moderate-yet-industrial peat, and very little oak intrusion. The 2020 bottling departs from that approach, leaning more towards a cask-led contemporary style. Yet, according to Winesearcher's analytics, the 10's average price, worldwide, is the same as it was nine years ago. So I expect I'll keep bottles of this in the stash, at the ready, for years to come.

RATINGS

Benromach 10 year old, bottled 2010 - 85

Benromach 10 year old, bottled Aug 2019 - 89

Benromach 10 year old, bottled Dec 2020 - 84

Things I Really Drink: Benromach 10 year old 2011 Polish Oak, cask 772

(Benromach cluster homepage)

I bought this. I don't like this. Everything else is just words.

And here are the words.

Cask 772 caught my eye because one doesn't see "Polish Oak" being touted on a whisky's label often, or ever. The thought of delicious Benromach spirit aging in a unique cask was very appealing. What all of the packaging's labels, official notes, and press releases leave out is the fact that this cask was soaked in "fortified wine".

The bottle's first pours were shared with friends, and I found the whisky to be quite tannic but interesting. Each subsequent pour (on separate nights) sunk further in my esteem. Liqueur sweet, the whisky had been suffocated not by Polish oak, but the "fortified wine". Since so much effort is put into celebrating the damned tree the cask was fashioned from, why could the distillery just toast the oak, not dress it up, and then apply the spirit? This is the first time I've been disappointed by Benromach, not just by one of their whiskies, but the distillery itself. If the cask ain't naked, then disclose its drapery.

I'm not looking forward to doing the tasting for this review, but here I go.

Distillery: Benromach
Ownership: Gordon & MacPhail
Region: Speyside (Findhorn)
Range: Single Cask Edition

Age: 10 years (21 November 2011 - 31 October 2022)
Maturation: first-fill Polish oak aggressively seasoned with unknown fortified wine
Cask: 772
Outturn: 263 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 58.6%
(one-third of the way down the bottle)

NEAT

Nose — First: Luxardo syrup, Chambord, and Creme de Cassis. Then: Mint extract, eucalyptus, and hazelnuts. Finally: Vanilla and apricots.

Palate — A weird cocktail of tawny port, blueberry syrup, and cherry popsicles strikes first, followed by leather, metal, and peppercorns. Maybe some dusty smoke in the far back.

Finish — A different ill-advised cocktail here: cherry liqueur, Cointreau, Angostura bitters, and Creme de Cassis, with cinnamon stick garnish.

DILUTED to 50%abv, or 1 tsp of water per 30mL whisky

Nose — Raspberry jam, roses, and orange pixy stix. No peat, but a sizable dose of perfume.

Palate — Very metallic and sugary. Acidic. Angostura bitters and menthol in the background.

Finish — Luxardo syrup, cayenne, and menthol.

YES, WORDS WORDS WORDS

I would have been happy with a uniquely weird whisky. But this is just another spirit annihilated by its cask's former (or not-so-former) contents. Maybe it'd be interesting if thickened and drizzled on vanilla ice cream, but that's not what I was led to believe this product was.

As you can see in Whiskybase, some people enjoy this style of whisky. Those folks would probably not enjoy most of my reviews, but I am glad this whisky found happy homes. From now on I'll stick to standard Benromach, the sort of stuff that will populate Monday's review...

Availability - still for sale at some UK shops
Pricing - a little over $100 (w/shipping)
Rating - 71 (the nose keeps it out of the 60s)

Benromach 2009 Cask Strength, batch 4

(Benromach cluster homepage)

Hey look another one of these BCS (Benromach Cask Strength, not the college football thing) items! On Monday, the 2007 Batch One proved to be merely very good. Today's batch of 29 sherry and bourbon casks whisked together was the last of the 2009 vintage batches. The sample comes from Mr. Opinions's's own bottle, so I expect nothing but the absolute best here.

Distillery: Benromach
Ownership: Gordon & MacPhail
Region: Speyside (Findhorn)
Range: Cask Strength





Age: 10-11 years (2009-2020)
Maturation: first-fill sherry and bourbon casks
Outturn: ???? bottles from 29 casks

Alcohol by Volume: 57.2%
Chillfiltered? No
e150a? No
(thank you to My Annoying Opinions for the sample!)

NEAT

The nose shows earthier peat (soil and dirty rocks) and fudgier chocolate than the 2007. Dried apricots and rooibos soon follow. Subtler floral and PX notes appear after 30+ minutes. Good balances of sweet and peat in the palate. Picture pork tenderloin with an apricot sauce. Honey roasted nuts, cinnamon, and toasted oak spices join in later on. It finishes similarly, but with more citrus and less peat.

DILUTED to ~50%abv, between ¾ and 1 tsp of water per 30mL whisky

I like it better here! Steak and dried cherries on the nose. Black walnuts and flowers. Milk chocolate and pine. The palate has shifted to dried cherries, ginger, wood smoke, and clove cigarettes. Oh my, a lovely long finish of bonfire and ocean water.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

It was a close race between this batch and the 2007 batch until I diluted them both, then this one pulled ahead, especially with its excellent finish. Its color was lighter than the other batch, and the sherry casks were better integrated. I'm not sure if those two aspects are related, but it seems like they are. A good pickup by Mr. Opinions. I could have certainly used a bottle of this during the early Covid Era.

Availability - Maybe still a few bottles in Europe?
Pricing - $100ish?
Rating - 87

Benromach 2007 Cask Strength, Batch 1

(Benromach cluster homepage)

Five years and a dozen batches late, I'm finally trying a Benromach Vintage Cask Strength whisky. Before this today, I'd thought that these batches were numbered sequentially like Laphroaig's CSes, but actually there's more to it. The distillery is releasing them by vintage, and there are batches within the vintage:

2007: 1 batch, 2018 release
2008: 2 batches, 2018 and 2019 releases
2009: 4 batches, 2019 and 2020 releases
2010: 1 batch, 2021 release
2011: 0 batches
2012: 3 batches, 2022 release
2013: 1 batch, 2023 release

They are 57%-60%abv, and a mix of 30 or fewer first-fill sherry and bourbon casks. That very first batch, the 2007, may be the only one released with a 750mL release, and it's the one I'm reviewing today.

Distillery: Benromach
Ownership: Gordon & MacPhail
Region: Speyside (Findhorn)
Range: Cask Strength





Age: 10-11 years (2007-2018)
Maturation: first-fill bourbon and sherry casks
Outturn: ????

Alcohol by Volume: 58.2%
Chillfiltered? No
e150a? No
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

The nose has a nice mix of coastal peat up front and wood smoke in the back. Almonds, toffee, cocoa powder, dried blueberries, and prunes fill the middle. A smoky ham note appears, after 30+ minutes. Chocolate jelly rings, salt, and pepper lead the palate. Moderate smoke and toffee pudding arrive next, with just a squeeze of lime in the background. It all gets sweeter and very peppery (cayenne) in the finish, and smoke turns sooty.

Not reducing it too much...

DILUTED to 50%abv, or 1 tsp of water per 30mL whisky

The nose simplifies to salt, smoke, and milk chocolate, with smaller notes of mercurochrome and charred BBQ bits. The palate gets sweeter and saltier, with specific notes of pineapple juice and smoky toffee pudding. Again, the smoke turns sootier in the finish, followed by a mix of salt, citrus, and milk chocolate.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Looking at my notes, I realize I have no strong feelings about this whisky, other than it's solid B-grade stuff. The sherry casks have more influence than the ex-bourbon vessels, but the spirit still lives on. It never gets too sweet nor too oaky. The peat works best in the nose, and the finish is quite nice. Brands/distilleries usually start off a range with a killer batch to get the market hooked, but this whisky is merely very good. That's not a complaint, but I hope this isn't peak Benromach Cask Strength because this distillery is capable of delivering excellent whisky.

Availability - Sold through
Pricing - less than $100?
Rating - 85