Hazelburn 15 year old 2003, Single Port Cask

The color of these Hazelburns gets darker with each day. It's a single refill port hoggie this time, though judging by the whisky's rosy tint, it wasn't a particularly refill hog. This particular single cask appears to have been bottled specifically for the US of A, selected by Pacific Edge in 2018. So I'm right on time as always.

Distillery: Springbank

Owner: J&A Mitchell
Brand: Hazelburn
Region: Campbeltown
Age: 15 years (April 2003 - November 2018)
Maturation: Refill Port Hogshead
Outturn: 264 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 56.6%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

The nose is not at all what I'd expected. It's kind of odd, in fact. It starts with clay, saline, hazelnuts, plaster and mothballs. Then it picks up toasted almonds, a hint of antiseptic and something between barrel char and graphite. 45 minutes in: blueberry pie. The palate arrives oddly as well, reading like a wonky cheese plate: gorgonzola, brie, raw almonds and a wee blob of berry preserves. It's hot, tart, tannic and slightly smoky. It finishes salty, cheesy and farmy with minor notes of tart berries and peppery sulfur.

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

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ with the nose: brine, mothballs, metal, wood smoke, dark chocolate and gorgonzola. It tastes of wheat, paper, tart berries and dirty hay, while the finishes matches than palate.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Some drinkers would grade this whisky a D or F, with its cheese and sulfur, and I would understand that. I'm not going to tell you this whisky makes any sense, and it's possible I received a weird sample, but I appreciate the way the nose shuffles gears and dimensions. And the palate is quite different than anything else I've had this year. But like yesterday's 13yo Oloroso, today's 15yo Portie crumbles when diluted. Can't say I like where this week's whiskies are headed...

Availability - Sold out?
Pricing - ???
Rating - 81 (neat only; when diluted it sinks deep into the 70s)

Hazelburn 13 year old 2007 Oloroso Cask Matured

Yesterday's Hazelburn was probably frequently mistaken for today's Hazelburn. Same age and vintage (down to the month), and bottled seven months apart. I thought I accidentally sourced the same whisky twice. But no, this 13yo was assembled entirely from oloroso casks, and is a smidgen stronger than Monday's H-burn. How did it fare in a Taste Off?

Distillery: Springbank
Owner: J&A Mitchell
Brand: Hazelburn
Region: Campbeltown
Age: 13 years (June 2007 - 23 Sept 2020)
Maturation: 100% Oloroso casks
Outturn: 9,900 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 50.3%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

The nose doesn't read like a contemporary sherried beast, and the casks smell clean. It's gently nutty, with some toffee, shortbread biscuits and a hint of nectarine. No black raisins nor prunes. With time, it shifts towards toffee, smoke and dried currants. The palate, on the other hand, is a sherry 'splosion. Sultanas, figs and sea salt at first. Then lemons and stones. It picks up a bit of sulfur and black raisins as it sits in the glass. No sulfur in the finish though. In fact it holds onto the sultanas, dried currants and lemon zest.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or ½ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

It noses of raw almonds, dried apricots, sultanas and digestive biscuits. Meanwhile, sulfur starts taking over the palate, allowing small odes of oranges, black raisins and woody bitterness. It finish tart, bitter and raisiny.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Keep water far away from this one as it crumbles once diluted. In fact, drink the whisky fast because it doesn't air out particularly well. My score probably seems generous, but if you catch it early, it's quite good, especially in the nose and finish. But FWIW, I'd quickly take yesterday's 13yo over this 13yo any and every day.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ???
Rating - 85 (neat only; when diluted it sinks into the 70s)

Hazelburn 13 year old 2007, Limited Edition 2021

Of the distiller's four brands, J&A Mitchell's triple-distilled single malt continues to receive the least amount of geek lust. That's fine. I'd say, "More for the rest of us," if I could find one damned bottle of Hazelburn anywhere. Anyway, if you spy the official 10 year old, have at it, it's very good.

Methinks menoses peat in nearly every Hazeblurn, as is the case with many "unpeated" malts from peaty distilleries, but that's a feature not a bug; a little extra dash of phenolics never hurt any whisky. I have here at hand five Hazelburns, and I'll review one each day this week. Will I find some peatiness, fruitiness, triple-distilled oddities, or all of the above?

Today, it's 2021's 13 year old limited edition that somewhat mirrors Springbank's 12yo CSes, with its 75% bourbon cask, 25% sherry cask approach.

Ignore the pic, this was actually the 2021 release

Distillery: Springbank
Owner: J&A Mitchell
Brand: Hazelburn
Region: Campbeltown
Age: 13 years (June 2007 - 12 April 2021)
Maturation: 75% ex-bourbon casks, 25% ex-sherry casks
Outturn: 6,300 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 48.6%
(sample from a bottle split, via Mr. Ricebowl)

NEAT

A gorgeous amount of barley in the nose, along with a vibrant ocean breeze. A good dose of seaweed meets a patch of moss. Lemon joins confectioner's sugar. A hint of hot tar in the background. The palate is sweet and tart, with loads of barley, peaches and apricots. Moments of butterscotch, salt and farm float by here and there. The finish has a decent length, and holds onto the apricots, salt, barley and lemon.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or >¼ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

The nose focuses on apples, lemons, apricots and hay. The palate gets sharper, tarter and saltier. The finish is all apples, salt and hay.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

I adore this style of whisky, barley-driven yet not half-baked. It's also the apricottiest™ whisky I've ever had. Makes me regret not picking up a bottle last year. I think the low ABV had me slightly worried, or maybe it was my personal life falling apart. Six of one, half dozen of the other. What a great start to this week!

Availability - Sold out?
Pricing - ???
Rating - 89

Bea's Birthday Booze: Ben Nevis 25 year old 1984, cask 98/35/1

With today's review, Ben Nevis ties Bowmore for the distillery with the second-most posts on this site. (Springbank holds the top spot, though it does fall behind the killer Bs if I subtract Longrows and Hazelburns.) Huzzah for Ben Nevis!

This will be the oldest official bottling, and only the second 1980s, Ben Nevis I've ever tried. The previous '80s BN wasn't particularly great, and that distillery had some weird decades before Asahi/Nikka stepped in to fix up the joint in the 1990s. So I have no idea what this 25yo will taste like.

But I am interested in its double maturation, with 13+ years in bourbon casks and 11+ years in one sherry butt. The distillery did this with at least a half dozen 1984s. Ben Nevis tends to have very good sherry casks, so perhaps the management rescued some hoggies that weren't punching their weight.

Time to see if it worked.

Distillery: Ben Nevis
Region: Highlands (Western)
Age: 25 years old (December 1984 - January 2010)
Maturation: Bourbon: Dec 1984 - October 1998; then Sherry: October 1998 - January 2010
Cask #: 98/35/1
Outturn: 628 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 56.0%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

It's a chocolatey baking-spicy sherry cask, in the nose at least. Earth, oats, gunpowder caps, cow manure and saline fill in the rest. It's a party, and it's bumpin'. The palate, though, is slightly soapy and dusty. Oranges, limes, chocolate and cherry lollies arrive later. Some salt and fabric in the background. But that soap note never leaves. It does mutate into an OBE type note in the finish, though tangy citrus, bitter chocolate, and a lot of sweetness almost cover it up.

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

The nose becomes mellower and better integrated. Toffee pudding, pipe tobacco and milk chocolate merge with tangerines and limes. Citrus takes the forefront in the palate, with the soap being pushed into the distance. Talcum powder, herbal bitterness and burlap linger around the edges. A good balance of tart, sweet and gentle smoke stay in the midground. The soap eventually vanishes. That same mix of tart, sweet and smoke stays through the finish.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

I'll try to accentuate the positives. Though the cask flexes its muscle fibers, the whisky isn't Oaky. I'm always a sucker for citrus + smoke (see Ardmore, well-aged Longrow, some Caol Ilas, etc.), and the diluted palate delivers that very thing. This cask never reaches the quality of Nevis's Naughty Nineties but it's still pretty darn good, especially once air and water wash the soap away.

Availability - Secondary market?
Pricing - ???
Rating - 87 (diluted)

Bea's Birthday Booze: Auchroisk 38 year old 1982 SMWS 95.39

If you're reading this, I have survived food poisoning, Yom Kippur, and Beatrice's birthday party. Maybe.

Like the '65 Glenfarclas, today's Auchroisk was consumed before the aforementioned entertainment. In fact, two whiskies were Taste Off adversaries. Auchroisk is less famous than Glenfarclas, as well as 95% of the rest of the Speyside distilleries, possibly because Diageo smuggles it all into J&B. J&B was a mighty fine blend in the 1960s, but Auchroisk was born in 1974. Yet can we blame this distillery (which is younger than some of my readers) for J&B's decline? I say, "no!", without any proof. And I do hope you enjoyed this paragraph's journey.

Distillery: Auchroisk
Ownership: Diageo
Region: Speyside (Central)

Bottler: Scotch Malt Whisky Society

Age: 38 years (15 Jan 1982 - 2020)

Maturation: refill sherry butt
Cask #: 95.39

Outturn: 477 bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 53.0%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

The nose begins with flowers and fruits: roses, citrons, cherries, plums and dried apricots. It then gains mild notes of fudge and freshly rolled cigars with time. Mango arrives first in the palate, then apricots, followed by lots of tart fruits. Tart berries, tart nectarines and lemons. It finishes salty and tart, with some of the palate's fruits, though no mango. Tannins creep up with time.

DILUTED to ~48%abv,  >½ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

Dilution tightens the nose's focus, while adding a salty/beachy note. Still full of roses and stone fruits, but now with a dash of marzipan underneath. The palate gets bitterer and tarter. Lots of toasted oak, with its spices and nuts. The finish matches the palate, with the tannins leading.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

When neat, this whisky is nearly a 90-pointer until oak keeps the finish from sticking the landing. I approached dilution with a gentle hand, finding the nose improving and the palate declining. Again, the finish fell short. Despite this negativity, I really enjoyed the fruity side of this Auchroisk's palate, and could nose the glass all night. I'm left wondering if this would have been even more glorious if bottled 5-10 years earlier.

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

Bea's Birthday Booze: Glenfarclas 1965-2005 Scott's Selection

Beatrice turns five years old this week. This means she will promptly exit the fearsome, frightful, forever fours, right? Please? We just completed a very bumpy weekend together, and I'm navigating food poisoning so I'll have something cute to say about my youngest on another post.

According to a whiskyfun post from 15(!) years ago, today's independently bottled whisky caused some trouble because Scott's Selection dared list Glenfarclas's name on the label. Serge also loved the heck out of the whisky. Did I also love the heck out of it?

Distillery: Glenfarclas
Ownership: J&G Grant
Region: Speyside (Central)
Bottler: Scott's Selection
Age: ~40 years (1965 - 2005)
Maturation: "Oakwood casks" (yep)
Outturn: ???
Alcohol by Volume: 48.5%
(A big thank you to Cobo!!!)

NOTES

This nose has four quadrants. First, the old stuff: dunnage, mothballs and dusty leather. Second, the fruits: guava and pineapple juices. Third, desserts: toffee and milk chocolate. Fourth, the curios: rotting kelp on the beach and calamine lotion. Sometimes these zones cross, and sometimes they segregate. It works, though.

Sadly the palate falls short of the nose. It's a bit dusty, sweet and bitter at the start, with notes of anise, limes, burlap and plums in the mid- to background. But then oak takes over. Beyond the woody bitterness and tannin, I can sort out a few new notes like soil, coffee grounds and baking chocolate.

It finishes with menthol, wormwood and black coffee after early sips. Later sips turn into a mix of lime juice and oak juice.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

No, I was not smitten with this one, though if the palate matched the nose this would have been quite an entertaining sipper. But also, I'm not a diehard fan of ultra-aged Glenfarclas, with their 43yo cognac cask being a rare exception. The spirit seems to be hyper extractive, which works well for their younger sherried products, but starts pulling up splinters by the fourth decade. Cobo, who generously provided this sample, was also less enamored of it than ol' WF was. The nose was what salvaged it for me, but, again, whisky is made for drinking.

Availability - Secondary market?
Pricing - ????

Rating - 83

Glencadam 8 year old 2011 SMWS 82.23

Time for a baby Glencadam! Today's whisky was pulled from a second fill bourbon barrel before its first decade was done, and the color is sort of pinot gris, so maybe this will provide a better glimpse into the spirit and solve the smoky mystery. Or it'll burn my face with its 63.5%abv. Only one way to find out!

Distillery: Glencadam
Owner: Angus Dundee Distillers

Region: Eastern Highlands

Bottler: Scotch Malt Whisky Society

Age: 8 years (16 Mar 2011 - 2019)

Maturation: second-fill bourbon barrel
Cask #: 82.23

Outturn: 235 bottles

Alcohol by Volume: 63.5% 🔥🔥🔥

(from a bottle split)

NEAT

The nose is very purdy. Roses, flower kiss candy and lemon juice appear first. Then cucumber, dandelion(?), dried apricots, soil and mint candy. Some vanilla-scented soap in the background. Smells beer-like at times, and never reads too hot. The palate doesn't burn too badly either. It's a little sweet, a little floral, and a little yeasty. Some bubblegum and ginger beer, with mild bitterness in the background. Its finish reads similar to the palate: Roses, grassy, yeast, sugar, gentle bitterness and a peppery bite.

Hosing it down:

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or 2¼ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

Gets a little weird here, with the nose firing off notes of mustard, dried grass, dried flowers, sugar and peach candy. The palate simplifies, resulting in flowers, barley and herbal bitterness. It finishes with roses, mint and sugar.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Another SMWS release that hits close to its cask name, "Petals and peaches". And it's not bad for such a young high-ABV malt. (Mr. Opinions likes it even more than I do!) I should have matched this up with last Friday's 8yo Glentauchers to see how they played off each other. The Glencadam does not solve the outstanding phenolic mystery, instead reading more like its reportedly floral newmake. Rarely will I say this about such a heater, but I prefer it at full power.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - was around €60
Rating - 82