Nothing unusual here. But there was only a splash of Glenfiddich left and they didn’t have another bottle in the store room so I got it free. Score!!
Glenfiddich
Fire & Seaweed & Aeons & Digging & Sherry 10 Year
Oh my word it smells and tastes like a morning on the ocean
Olorosum 10
Cherry, orange and oak in the nose. Maybe some apple? Lots of pepper in the first sip. Caramel and a bit of bitterness in the finish. Best so far in the 2024 advent calendar (masters of malt).
Bruichladdich
The one in the blue bottle. I forget what it’s called. And I always forget how amazing it is.
Caramel and chocolate and campfire and so so so much butter. Always amazing.
Bowmore 12
Bowmore 12 at club privé at Bellagio Las Vegas. Always solid and reliable. Just enough smoke, with caramel and butter and berries underneath.
The Dalmore 15
The Dalmore 15 year old, sherry cask
Nose: fresh cut firewood. Strawberry. Just a hint of smoke.
Wood in the taste. Somehow chewy. Lovely long smoky finish with a lot of sherry and wine.
Ledaig 21 oloroso cask
Ledaig 21 year old
Oloroso cask finish
47.9% alc/vol
Lots of peat. Cherry. Tobacco. Pineapple. Very sour finish. Not sure how to describe the finish – like ashes but sour. Weird. Can’t say I like it but it was an interesting experience.
Lagavulin Offerman 11
Honey, vanilla and smoke – as I suppose one would expect from rum aged Islay.
I’ve been wanting to try this for a while and I’m at Whiskey Kitchen in Raleigh, North Carolina and they have it here. I can’t get it at home and it really wasn’t very expensive.
The smoke is edging up on too much, but the underlying flavors are just delightful. I’m really glad I got a chance to try this.
Kriek de Ranke
As I’ve said before, I hate Belgian beer. Which is weird given that it’s considered by many to be the best beer in the world. But there’s something about the open fermentation style that makes me physically ill.
But I do love a Kriek, and more generally a lambic. So on my annual pilgrimage to Brussels I always try to have a lambic that I have not tried before.
The De Ranke Kriek is tart and crisp like a fresh cherry. As it should be. And it’s one I haven’t had before.
On my usual scale of forty bottles of RingBoRee, this scores a 31.
Also I wish I’d gotten the smaller bottle so I could have tried something else rather than filling up on this.
American Whiskeys
As you may have gathered, I got a whiskey advent calendar for 2023. I am still not through it. The main reason for that is that it’s heavy on American whiskeys, and I have come to the conclusion that I hate American whiskeys. The reason is very simple – corn tastes like gummy bears and corn chips, and doesn’t belong in whiskeys. So each American whiskey I come across, while I try to say something intelligent about its flavors and aromas, they all smell and taste like gummy bears and cleaning sprays.
I have said what I have said.