Grade: C
Type: Scotland, Single Malt, Island
Age: N/A
ABV: 43.00%
Price $80
Availability: Better Whiskey Stores
The nose on this is oiled leather and fungus. The palate has the mildest of smoke and tastes extremely young which is strange considering that it’s blended with whiskies that are 13 and 21 years of age. Very sour which lingers into the finish, thin and bland. Not as offensive as the 16 but not far off either. There are cheap blends that are much better than this.
Grade: D+
Type: Scotland, Single Malt, Island
Age: 16 yrs
ABV: 43.00%
Price: $70
Availability: Better Whiskey Stores
The nose has some light peat and fresh berries. The palate makes you immediately feel like you have bitten into an old tire. There is a dominating rubber taste that is extremely offensive. Really I can’t get past that rubber taste. This is a terrible single malt, avoid this expression. The old 40%, “Diurachs’ Own” may have been better
Grade: C+
Type: Scotland, Single Malt, Island,
Age: 10 yrs
ABV: 43.00
Price: $45
Availability: Better Whiskey Stores
The nose reminds me of honey nut cheerios with some melon. The palate is quite sweet with more honey and vanilla, slightly spicy. The finish is a little bitter but not bad, light smoke, caramel. This is an easy drinking expression. Not a bad single malt to start with. C+/B-
Grade: B-
Type: Scotland, Blended
Age: 5 yrs
ABV: 40.00%
Price: $32
Availability: Better Whiskey Stores
This expression is from the same creators of “Sheep Dip”. The nose has some intense ripe fruit and malt. The palate is creamy, silky, gentle but with a fantastic ballance of honey, salt and butterscotch. The finish is light and fast but with a nice lingering sweetness. This isn’t an overly complex whisky. It does remind me of some of the much more expensive but quality blends. At $30 this is a steal for anyone that is a fan of the “smooth” blended style.
Grade: C+
Type: Scotland, Single Malt, Highland
Age: 12 yrs
ABV: 46.00%
Price: $55
Availability: Better Whiskey Stores
This expression spends ten years in American oak and then another two years in oloroso sherry casks. The nose is honey, dry sherry, and coffee. Considering that it’s a late maturation sherry soak, the sherry is quite rich and very spicy, extremely sweet. The complexity of the palate is long gone leaving you with a heated and uninspiring finish. This is an over the top sweet whisky with little else going on. C+/B-
Grade: C
Type: Scotland, Single Malt, Speyside
Age: 12 yrs
ABV: 40.00%
Price: $40
Availability: Better Whiskey Stores
The nose has some malt and cereal/grain aspects to it. The palate has some orange and sour rotten nuts to it. I barely noticed the finish as I almost spit it out but some sourness did linger. The nose and intial palate led me to believe that this could be used as a mixer, so not a total loss. But why buy a $40 mixer?
Grade: C+
Type: Scotland, Single Malt, Speyside
Age: 15 yrs
ABV: 40.00%
Price: $44
Availability: Better Whiskey Stores
The nose is dried citrus and oak. The palate tastes a lot like a dry wine, meaning semi sweet. There is a lot of citrus here and some light malt. The finish is fast and very light and some sour notes come to mind here. Meh… there is no way I would spend the extra $20 on this over the 12 year. Neither expressions are very complex and like I stated above, this expression is a bit sour on the finish and almost offensive. Buy the 12 instead.
Grade: B
Type: Scotland, Single Malt, Islands
Age: 15 yrs
ABV: 40.00%
Price: $75
Availability: Better Whiskey Stores
The nose is sweet with fruit and burnt caramel. The palate is rich and sweet with sherry and a light smokiness. The finish is a bit dry with some light smoke and sherry… Great balance here. This expression is just a tad better than the 12 and a bit short of the 18. I enjoy this a lot but if you can afford the extra cash… buy the 18.
Grade: B
Type: Indian, Single Malt
Age: N/A
ABV: 62.10%
Price: $115
Availability: Better Whiskey Stores/Limited
The nose is fuity with chocolate and spice. The palate has a lot of fruit, spice, cinnamon, hot and intense. It has a nice port taste on the finish with some more red berries. This stuff really packs a punch but it’s still a pleasant enough dram. B/B-
Grade: C+
Type: Scotland, Single Malt, Highland
Age: 12 yrs
ABV: 46.00%
Price: $55
Availability: Better Whiskey Stores
This is a port finished expression. The nose has some citrus and malt with some light wood. The palate has some spice and there is a nice taste of port here, though not very rich. In the middle of the tasting experience it is quite sweet. This is actually a decent dram until you reach the finish. The finish is bitter, sour, slightly offensive. There are much better port casks out there, Arran comes to mind.
Bay Area Whiskey Reviews 