That Boutique-y Whisky Company Tasting Notes

That Boutique-y Whisky Company Blended Whisky #1 Batch 1 50.3%

Tasted: July 2014

Nose: Initially a little shy but the sweet molasses, coffee and hickory emerge along with malty baked fruit and a touch of spice. With time the aromas become quite grainy and some light muscavado sugar coated tangerine and sweet, dusty violets emerge. Lovely intensity now.

Palate: Moist and lightly doughy with hints of malt and milk chocolate and very spicy grains. Lovely depth with hints of dried fruit, liquorice and wood notes on the middle. Wow! Those spices realty bite!

Finish: Intense and mouth-watering. A serious spice riot is going on here! Dry, woody, bitter chocolate finish with the spices lingering for minutes.

Conclusion: Stunning stuff! Intense and spicy. If this isn’t whisky of the month I’ll eat my shorts! [tasted blind for the Whisky Magazine. And no, there was no short eating needed!]

That Boutique-y Whisky Company Blended Whisky Batch #1 50.3%

Re-Tasted: Dec 2014

Nose: Intense and phenolic with lovely, sweet, violet tinged peat. Quite dense and malty with hints of melon and guava. Lightly grainy with a good dollop of balancing, fragrant honey and with time a touch of wood spice.

Palate: Luscious and honeyed. Veritably dripping in the stuff! Mature, dusty fruit and tropical fruit give the impression of age and the grain adds a gentle nip. Quite alcoholic but the honey balances superbly.

Finish: Long and phenolic as the sweet peat escape the clutches of the honey! Lightly citric, grainy and stony finish.

Conclusion: A superb blend. Even though the abv is quite high the huge degree of honey means you can drink it without the need for dilution.

That Boutique-y Whisky Company Blended Whisky #2 Batch 1 48.3%

Tasted: Mar 2015

Nose: Overwhelming aromas of sulphur tainted sherry. There are hints of sweet citrus and spice but…….

Palate: Metallic and sulphured. In fact very sulphured with hints of dried fruit beneath. Rather bitter, musty and dirty.

Finish: Very dry and bitter.

Conclusion: Very disappointing.

The Lost Distilleries Tasting Notes

The Lost Distilleries Blend 53.2%

Best Blended Scotch

Nose: Pungent and oily, opening with some toffee’d banana grain along with a touch of lime and white flowers. The aromas darken with time as the mature malt and oak comes through brining some dusty, light tobacco and herbal nuances. A drop of water makes it appear younger and emphasises the oily grain.

Palate: Quite sweet – sugared barley, light smoke and toffee’d grain. It moves into earthy spice but the alcohol begins to intrude. A drop of water softens and allows the malt to shine, showing that beautiful maturity and wonderfully silky mouth-feel.

Finish: Mouth-watering and spicy with plenty of dry spice and smoke. Water lengthens and softens and sweetens the smoke and brings out a touch of parma violets.

The Lost Distilleries Blend Batch 5 50.4%

Maverick Drinks/ Tasted: July 2014

Nose: Crisp and grainy but quite subtle with lightly oiled Guyana-esque dried fruit. The oak vanillins are quite edgy and brittle but there’s also a light sawdusty intimation. Even though the oak begins to dominate the aromas still retains a lovely freshness.

Palate: Grippy and gritty American oak up first with hints of coffee. Sultana dominated dried fruit follows along with a touch of dried apricot. The alcohol and tannins build but the light oils balance. Just!

Finish: A superb finish. Very back-end loaded. Lightly herbal with a distant coal smoke note. It becomes sweeter as the rum-like fruits burst through all the drying, grainy tannins.

Conclusion: Is this a 25 year old grain whisky? It certainly feels like one. Very impressive nevertheless.

Conclusion: Give it a drop of water and it shines!

The Lost Distilleries Blend Batch 5 50.4%

Re-Tasted: Dec 2014

Nose: Peanut oil and cashew nuts along with hints of apricot and under ripe banana. Quite fleshy but the taught grain keeps it under wraps.

Palate: Soft, lightly oiled apricot fruit plus hints of honey and vanilla. The herbal, lightly dried fruit grain comes through on the middle.

Finish: Long and quite spicy with the dried fruit grain notes lingering.

Conclusion: Quite heavy on the grain component but it feels like it has some age.

The Lost Distilleries Company Classic Selection Lossit 43%

Blended Malt Islay

Tasted: Sept 2016

Nose: Tarry and slightly meaty with dusty peat, violets and fish oils. Some pleasantly sweet barley underpins and with time it becomes gently medicinal.

Palate: The natural oils dampen the complexity a little but there’s a good depth of white fruit, subtle, dusty peat, tar, cinnamon and rock salt.

Finish: Phenomenally salty. Add to that a little bittering from the oak and that’s pretty dry!

Conclusion: Good grief. I can feel the salt crystals forming on my tongue after that one!

Tesco Tasting Notes

Tesco Special Reserve 3 year old Blended Scotch Whisky 40%

Tasted: Oct 2013

The nose opens with buckets of blanketing, dampening sweet caramel and toffee. Some edgy, coffee’ grain comes through along with a hint of peat smoke plus a light sherried richness. With time the herbal spirit shows.

The palate is awash with caramel and toffee with the grain fighting to show itself. Soft and relatively non-descript with a herbal spirit finish. For a heavily caramelised 3 year old it’s not too bad.

Tesco Special Reserve 3 year old Blended Scotch Whisky 40%

Re-Tasted: Oct 2015

Blended by Richard Pattison

A nose of youthful, crisp grain with plenty of thick sherry and a light earthiness.

The palate is young and a little raw but plenty of thick sherry covers its youthfulness. Medium length with a grainy finish. For its price there’s nothing wrong with it.

Old St Andrews Tasting Notes

Old St Andrews 40%

Tasted: Dec 2012

The aromas are lightly peated with a touch of coffee and plenty of neutral grain spirit, which is pleasantly soft and creamy. Hints of tangerine and lightly sherried fruit emerge. 

The palate is soft, if slightly watery with a greater emphasis on the neutral grain spirit. There are hints of citrus and malt but the creamy grain is dominant. Ok length with a very chalky finish. As inexpensive blends go it’s ok.

Loch Fyne Tasting Notes

Loch Fyne Inverarity Limited Edition Blended Whisky 12 years old 40%

Limited Edition of 3000 Bottles/ Dist: 1997 Btl 2009/ Tasted: July 2012

A soft and relatively straightforward nose. Slightly industrial with some pleasant honey, malt and a creamy graininess. With time it develops a slight floral note. 

The palate is fairly full and soft, opening with a touch of caramel along with some gentle honey and soft fruits. Slightly cereally with again a creamy graininess and a banana/ apricot note in the finish. It reminds me of Johnnie Walker Black Lable – soft and rather corporate.

 

Whyte & Mackay Tasting Notes

Whyte & Mackay ‘Special’ 40%

Tasted: Mar 2009

The nose is full and soft. Beautifully sweet orange fruit hovers above its grainy base. The sherry influence is noticeable giving it hints of earth and crystallised fruit. A pleasant nose! The palate is soft, unassuming and harmonious and begins with the grain component but it is far from spirity. A more serious palate than the other blends, with a synchronized amalgamation of weighty fruit along with some sherry wood tannins. The malt component has a greater feeling of age. Finally the grain pushes in again on the finish.

Whyte & Mackay Special 40%

Re-Tasted July 2013

Caramel overload on the nose! Hard, young, grainy spirit with sweet toffee-caramel, a touch of sherried dried fruit.

The palate is toffee/ caramel flattened. Sweet, homogenous and bland with plenty of youthdul, herbal grain spirit showing. Maybe there is a touch of sherry cask richness but it’s hard to tell as its buried under the mountain of caramel. Short.

Whyte & Mackay Blended Scotch Whisky 40%

Tasted: Oct 2015

Quite fresh and crisp aromas with plenty of herbal grain. Nippy with hints of dried fruit and fragrant malt.

The palate displays a lot of grain spirit as expected but there are hints of vanilla and dried sherry fruit notes. Simple but pleasant. Good length with the grain lingering. A cheap but not nasty blend.

Whyte & Mackay 13 year old 40%

Tasted: Mar 2009

The production process for the 13 year old is the same as the ‘special’. So after being impressed with that I’m quiet looking forward to this.

A very good nose! It’s richer and juicier with a greater malt component and maturity. Succulent sultanas merge with mature honey and delicate sherry notes along with a touch of perfume and earth. The grain is there but it is almost imperceptible, buried beneath the weight of the wonderfully honeyed fruit. This is a really classy nose. The palate is like the nose, displaying a greater malt content. The grain is again well integrated and adds an edge. Juicy and honeyed with barley, dry spices and delicate sherry fill the mouth. The grain comes through on the finish with a grassy freshness. This will definitely change your opinion on blends!

Whyte & Mackay 19 year old ‘Old Luxury’ 40%

Tasted: Mar 2009

A deep, pungent and mature nose. Wet dunnage floors, delicate sherry and juicy malt fight with the spices and mountainous honey. More weighty than the 13, with a slight violet top note. Like the 13 the grain is almost imperceptible, but it’s there on the edges adding bite. The palate is glossy and ultrs smooth with gentle honey, polished floors and varnished oak notes. Very classy, the grain nips on the middle and the soft wood tannins add grip. However the fruit dies too quickly and leaves a rather spirity finish. It seems an odd age to bottle it at as it is obviously going through an odd phase, between 13 and 22 years.

Whyte & Mackay 22 year old ‘Supreme’ 43%

Tasted: Mar 2009

Although older it has a fresher character than the 19. There’s a lovely crispness to the malt and grain along with a slight smokiness. (If I was nosing this blind I’d swear it was younger). The barley has a wonderfully soft translucent sheen, the honey is heavenly and practically no grain is noticeable. It could almost be a maturing Spey. Glenrothes comes to mind. Over time a beguiling perfumed orange, coffee and linseed oil note emerges and only after some considerable time is the grain discernable. Superb nose – ever changing and evolving! Has a touch ofIslaycrept into the mix?

The palate is oily and soft with sweetly spiced orange fruit, and just a soupcon of sherry. The higher level of alcohol is noticeable and gives the palate some bite. Wow! What a middle! Luxurious honey coats the mouth but the barley retains a lovely crisp, freshness in order to balance it. The grain spirit is so swamped it barley fights through the honey. Lovely length with grippy, soft tannins and wood-spice notes to finish. Beats the 19 hands down. No contest!

Whyte & Mackay 30 year old 40%

Tasted: Mar 2009

Oh my this nose is deep! No plumb line will reach the bottom of the wonderfully nature honey morass. It’s all about the mature sherry wood with hints of walnuts, cinnamon, coriander powder, coffee liquorice and dried fruit. Marvelous orange fruit with a delicate perfume and smoky nuances finally breaks through. Hints of lavender, violets and Highland park-esque heather follow. Refine and elegant. Incredibly complex, it’s like old Glen Grant with a sprinkling ofHighland Parkand Bowmore. Once again the grain is masterfully hidden.

The palate is viscous and oily, with the mature wood notes leading off – coffee, cinnamon, clove and toffee’d honey. But then……….. Horror of horrors! The fruit dies, like a shutter has come down. The finish is very grainy although note as spirity as the 19. Damn! One minute glorious malt and then bang it’s all over. What a disappointment after that nose!

Whyte & Mackay 40 year old 45%

70% Malt, 30% Grain

Tasted: Mar 2009

Very dark in colour. Oh yes it’s an old sherry monster, but a damn fine one though! Hugely spicy with cinnamon, clove, walnuts, seriously mature honey along with toffee and coffee notes. Then out of the sherried morass comes a tantalising, perfumed orange note, more honey, beeswax and old floor polish. It screams age. A rich after dinner dram with hints of tobacco smoke, moistDundeecake and dried fruit with a crystalised sheen. A truly divine nose to loose ones self in.

The palate is mature honey heaven, coating the tongue with its mellow, aged viscous-ness. This graceful dram gradually unfolds a complex array of flavours – elderly sherry wood, spices, cinnamon, old leather, and a slight earthy/ dunnage floor coated toffee. A sublime, juicy middle awaits, yet the elevated level of alcohol bites and stops it from being too mellow and flabby, ably abetted by the grain. The finish lasts for ages, leaving a nutty, fruitcake and cinnamon biscuit finish. The finest blend I have tasted, utterly divine. Moist and sensuous. It’s so amazingly complex that sometimes you just have to stop analysing and just sip and enjoy!

William Lawson’s Tasting Notes

William Lawson’s Scottish Gold 12 Years Old 40%

Tasted: Jan 2012

An interesting nose! Hints of tar and fish mingle with some sub-tropical fruit and maybe a smidge of sherry. Late hints of unsweetened breakfast cereal – It’s just like putting your head in a mash tun! After some time the grain puts in an appearance.

The palate is a total contrast to the nose. Soft, slightly sweet and very homogonous. Apart from some soft grain notes not much else pops up! Good length however with a sweet grain finish. A very interesting nose let down by the dull palate.

William Lawson’s 13 year old 40%

Tasted: Dec 2014

Nose: Soft and carameled with an abundance of grain spirit notes. Straightforward with hints of honey.

Palate: Has a little more going on with hints of crisp barley, minerals, citrus and caramel. Lightly honeyed in the middle

Finish: Reasonable length with a little spice but pretty much all grain.

Conclusion; A simple, no frills blend

The Tweeddale Blend Tasting Notes

The Tweeddale Blend 12 Years Old 46%

Bottled by Stonedean Ltd

Tasted: Jan 2012

A very grainy nose, but of the creamy variety. I’m guessing that there is just a minisucle proportion of malt here. To be honest it’s just like an oak aged vodka. 

A soft, dull palate which is predominantly creamy grain. Ok length with a bit of a bite in the finish. Grain whisky or oak aged vodka? You choose!

Stewarts Old Tasting Notes

Stewarts Old 40%

Tasted: Mar 2009

A smooth, densely packed nose. Harmonious and amalgamated. There is a pleasant level of malty fruit, and the malts have some good maturity and sweetness to balance the grain. The crisp fruit builds rather well. The palate is soft with the juicy, aged malt leading off and keeping the grain in check. The oak comes through pleasantly on the middle and the grain returns on the finish. Beautifully soft with a balancing granity hardness. A lovely blend with an unassuming complexity.

Scottish Leader Tasting Notes

Scottish Leader Original 40%

Tasted: Dec 2014

Nose; Dense and honeyed with hints of mature, sawdusty oak. Lightly tropical with apricot, pineapple, kiwi and melon. Below that gorgeous fruit hints of barley can be detected along with a light wisp of smoke.

Palate: Soft and fruity, opening with toffee’d oak and followed by luscious apricot, melon and pineapple. The oak however is a little too dominating.

Finish: Long and toffee’d with a spicy finish.

Conclusion: A little heavy on the oak, especially on the palate which took dampened the fruit a little too much.

Scottish Leader Signature 40%

Tasted: Dec 2014

Nose: Dense and fragrant barley along with hints of orange blossom honey and delicate tropical apricot, melon and banana. Showing some lovely maturity with developing green fruit, spice, coffee and grain notes.

Palate: Oily and honeyed with a gentle tropical fruit character. The grain and stony notes come through on the middle adding a good freshness.

Finish: Good length with hints of citrus joining the mineral and grain notes. Pleasant light, dusty cocoa after-taste.

Conclusion: A very well balanced blend.

Scottish Leader 15 year old 40%

Tasted: Nov 2010

The nose has some pleasant fruity moments with a hard/ industrial Dufftown-esque malt feel. A touch of wood and some dried fig/ sultana aromas appear with time.

The palate is flat, industrial and innocuous. Some oak tries it’s best to break through the caramel and the grain comes through at the death. Give the bottle a shake and see how much caramel they have used, it’s frightening!