House of Hazelwood Tasting Notes

House of Hazelwood 21 year old 40%

William Grant & Sons

Tasted: Feb 2017

Nose: Mature Speyside fruit to begin with, followed by barley malt, coffee and luxuriously creamy American oak and subtle grain. In fact the vanillins are quite floral and with time the oak becomes very dominant.

Palate: Full, rich, fruity (mature) and malty but the grain pushes through rather quickly and gives it a very austere middle.

Finish: Long, spicy and grain dominated, which isn’t a surprise. Those spices have an almost Irish pot still feel to them.

Conclusion: Very entertaining!

Grindlay’s Tasting Notes

Dalriada Blended Scotch 40%

Tasted: Sept 2016

Nose: Opens with the malt, dusty barley and vanilla, along with a touch of sherried dried fruit, earth and spice. With time the floral and botanical grain notes begin to dominate.

Palate: Shows more creamy oak and makes it feel fuller. Quite oily too with subtle barley and sherried notes. The crisp grain comes in quickly but brings some pleasant spice notes.

Finish: Pretty chewy as the malt reasserts itself.

Conclusion: A pleasant, relatively straightforward blend, which shows a good malt/ grain balance.

Lombard Scotch Whisky Tasting Notes

Ballaglass Blended Scotch Whisky 40%

Tasted: Sept 2016

Nose: Plenty of almost saline fresh grain with some sweet, dried fruit underpinning. A touch of estery apricot and banana follows along with sweet vanilla, toffee and herbal rye-like notes.

Palate: Opens with the lightly oiled but spicy grain with the malt coming through on the middle. Subtly oaked with hints of barley, but the grain is the dominating factor.

Finish: Long and grainy with a touch of coffee and sweet grain notes.

Conclusion: It feels like a grain heavy blend which has a lovely vibrancy and just enough malt character to add depth.

Bartles Whisky Tasting Notes

HE8 His Excellency 8 year old Blended Scotch 40%

A blend of 8 to 10 year old Tullibardine (40%) & North British (60%)

Tasted: June 2016

Aromas of sweet nougat, light honey, barley and white fruit. Slightly herbal with some crisp grain notes.

The palate is fresh and citric with sweet grain, honey and oak. A touch of barley sugar comes through on the middle along with hints of soft spice, toffee and a little Tulli character! Medium length with a slightly bitter finish. Conclusion: Given that the malt component is renowned for its industrial character, it’s surprisingly good!

Sutcliffe and Son Tasting Notes

The Exceptional Blend by Sutcliffe & Son, 1^st Edition 43%

North British, Strathclyde, Cameronbridge grain with Glenfarclas, Ben Nevis, Balvenie, Kininivie, Glenfiddich, Allt-A-Bhannie, Aucroisk, Glenallachie, Westport (Glenmorangie), Speyside and Macallan malts.

Blended and married in first fill Oloroso butts

Btl: 2016/ Tasted: May 2016

The nose is mellow and luscious, lightly honeyed apricot and barley is speckled with hints of coriander, cumin and rye-like herbal sherry notes. A touch of gentle peat emerges along with a touch of vanilla, white fruit, greengage and creamy oak and later hints of mature grain.

The palate opens with the nippy grain, followed by slightly more dominant sherry. Treacle, liquorice, sandalwood, orange and a touch of herbal notes. Beautifully balanced and complex with the herbal notes intensifying and some subtle spices coming through on the middle. Long and remaining herbal with dark chocolate, liquorice, malt, a wisp of smoke and a little bitter oak on the finish.

Sutcliffe & Sons The Exceptional Blend 2nd Edition? 43%

Tasted: Sept 2016

Nose: The oak is focal point here with vanilla, wheat flakes and rye-like herbal notes. The grain component adds a little freshness and allows a light apricot and sweet apple note to appear.

Palate: Oak, oak, oak and yet more oak! Buttery and creamy with no shortage of Bourbony/ rye-like character. The grain fights its way through eventually.

Finish: Long and guess what. Yes. Remaining oaky! A little grainy spice at the very end.

Conclusion: There appears to be a lot of first fill American oak here and is a salutary lesion in how (over) influencing it can be.

The Blended Whisky Company Tasting Notes

The Blended Whisky Company, The Golden Age Blend 46.4%

Tasted: Feb 2016

Nose: Slightly meaty, but gentle and mature with a lovely balance of mature malt and grain. Gentle Oloroso notes rift in along with hints of tea, tobacco and dusty sherry spices.

Palate: A real mouthful of dusty, mature sherry with hints of violets and a whiff of peat. Develops pruney dark fruit and treacle on the middle. Wonderfully effortless and complex.

Finish: Long, mature and spicy.

Conclusion: A simply gorgeous mouthful of whisky!

The Blended Whisky Company Half Century Blend 45.5%

Tasted: Nov 2016

Very mature aromas which display a succulent dried fruit rancio and dusty sherry wood notes. Hints of violets, chocolate orange, raisin, barley, banana, golden syrup and gorgeously chocolaty spices follow. Seriously complex wit late crisp but sweet grain and dusty vanilla oak.

Full and rich on the palate with delicate dried, mature fruit and oak. Subtly spiced with hints of banana, coconutty grain and dusty vanilla oak. The grain really comes through on the middle to imbue it with a lovely vibrancy. Long and remaining grainy with a slight mouth-watering but oily finish. Toasty oak after-taste.

Lidl Tasting Notes

Queen Margot 3 year old 40%

Tasted: Feb 2016

Nose: Full and intense with apricot, barley and hints of herbal grain. Pleasantly balanced with a touch of vanilla and toffee’d oak.

Palate: Full and soft with apricot and light honey. Relatively straightforward with the grain coming through on the middle.

Finish: Good length with the crisp grain dominating.

Conclusion: A pleasant, well balanced blend. Nothing exciting though. Has an Irish feel to it.

Glen Alba Sherry Cask Finish 22 year old 40%

Clydesdale Scotch Whisky Company for Lidl

Tasted: Feb 2016

Nose: A gorgeously honeyed nose which shows some maturity, certainly with its Cognac-esque rancio and sawdusty oak. With time the oak becomes pleasantly buttery.

Palate: Crisper as more grain is apparent, but its pleasantly mature grain. Again a touch of Cognac-esque dried fruit, barley and subtle honey. The dried fruit really picks up the intensity towards the middle.

Finish: Lightly smoked with lingering honey.

Conclusion: Wonderfully balanced and mature blend.

 

Douglas Laing Tasting Notes

Douglas Laing Syndicate 12 year old Blended Scotch 40%

Code: SYN001/ Tasted: Jun 2015

Intense, gritty oak tannins and vanilla on the nose with hints of oxidised fruit and big, Bourbony notes. Damn, this is a serious oak monster with late grainy coffee’d spices.

No surprises as the palate mirrors the nose with plenty of toffee’d/ coffee’d oak, gritty vanillins and dried, oxidised fruit. Very oak dominated. Medium length with the dried fruit and light wood spice lingering.

Douglas Laing Syndicate 58/6 12 year old 40%

Tasted: Mar 2016

Nose: Crisp almost tart citrus, crunchy barley and minerals to begin with. Lightly honeyed, tropical honeydew melon and dusty American oak add body and weight. Late hints of coffee and herbal grain.

Palate: Crisp, mineral and citric. Quite a bracing character but it fleshes out when the mature fruit and oak arrive. Hints of coffee, dried fruit and malt on the middle.

Finish: Good length, if a little dry and austere with lingering grain, dusty spice, citrus and mineral notes.

Conclusion: Ooh, now that has a beautiful palate cleansing finish!

Master of Malt Tasting Notes

Master of Malt 10 year old Blended Whisky 47.5%

Tasted: Dec 2014

Nose: Gristy, fragrant barley with hints of summer meadows. A touch of toffee appears along with some sharp grain notes.

Palate: Flat with bitter, burnt caramel.

Finish: Bitter, caramel biting spices and grain.

Conclusion: Pleasant nose but it has been ruined by the heavy-handed use of caramel.

Wemyss Vintage Malts Tasting Notes

Wemyss Velvet Fig 46%

Tasted: Dec 2014

Nose: Slightly sulphurous and cardboardy with a sickly, sweet note. Hints of dried fruit, liquorice and burnt coffee’d spices come through. However the industrial character dominates.

Palate: Industrial, hard and quite sulphured.

Finish: Medium length with the tainted sherry notes lingering.

Conclusion: So badly tainted it’s untrue.