Nikka Blended Whisky 40%

Posted on December 16, 2015 by Carissa Hickling

We’ve been on a bit of a Japanese whisky roll for sometime now… From Nikka alone, have sampled:

So when there was an opportunity to try this at our November Whisky Ladies evening, who could resist?

What did we find?

Nikka Blended Whisky 40%

Nose – Papaya and then some seriously strong pineapple, very fruity, bursting with the tropics, “It is having a party in my nose!” Some honey, vanilla… A little sprig of sage
Palate – Smooth, creamy, ginger, cinnamon, bay leaf, soft and buttery, chocolate
Finish – The most disappointing part of the whisky, some black pepper, there but… after such a remarkable nose and interesting palate… bit of a let down really
With water – Nose took on apples, even more honey, apple pie, a bright perfume and the taste pure candy! Even the finish became sweet candies. One observed that with water it is a bit like “burping pears!”
Comments – “It’s like Victor / Victoria!” “Completely schizo!”

Quite flirtatious and quixotic, not at all straight forward, some complexity and just kept changing… now it is spicy, now it is sweet, now it is spicy… sweet… spicy… sweet…

This one sure sparked a lot of conversation. The final conclusion was it is a very ‘gemini’ whisky with two faces… at one time all sweetness and light and then it turns around and jolts you “What the heck?”

Nikka’s two distilleries – Yoichi and Miyagikyo have a serious yin yang thing going on… The peaty Yoichi‘s are quite masculine whereas by contrast Miyagikyo’s whiskies tend to be quite delicate, nuanced and light.

The funny thing is even after all the conversation and all the exclamations, is it a ‘wow’ whisky? No. But definitely very interesting.

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Forty Creek Confederation Oak Reserve 40%

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Carissa Hickling

Years ago while in Canada I had the privilege to crash a Winnipeg whisky tasting group.

These gents meet regularly and even have a locked whisky ‘cabinet’ that houses the whiskies acquired, sampled and re-sampled by its members. They are a merry bunch and I do hope another Winnipeg trip will coincide with their session… and they would be kind enough to welcome me back as a visitor!

Naturally, I asked what Canadian whisky is worth taking back to India for our tasting group. Crown Royal wouldn’t cut it (remember this is many years before Jim Murray decided to put Manitoba onto the whisky world map) and to be honest, I hadn’t really been paying much attention to developments in the Canadian whisky scene.

Forty Creek was suggested – specifically the Confederation Oak Reserve. Why? It uses Canadian oak – great big giant white Oak around approx 150 years to be precise – named as the trees likely began their life around the time of Confederation. How Canadian, eh?

Very hopeful and bursting with Canadian pride, I brought back a bottle and couldn’t wait to try! Except… let’s just say I wasn’t exactly bowled over by this whisky. I don’t even have a scrap of tasting notes for it…

However folks back in India in social gatherings LOVED it! A great conversation piece, a very smooth, drinkable dram… just not terribly remarkable in my hazy memory of many years ago.

Fast forward to November 2015 and this same whisky made its way via another Canadian lass living in Mumbai as her ‘treat’ from Canada for our Whisky Ladies November. However, always want to keep an open mind so thought what the heck! Let’s give it another chance.

What did we find?

Forty Creek Confederation Reserve Bottle #06232 40%

Nose – Citrusy, fresh cut wood, lemon peel, ether like in a doctor’s office, vanilla, cinnamon, fig, a rather Canadian maple and LOTS of honey
Palate – Very easy, creamy, smooth, wood, simple, not complex, bit of pepper spice, walnut, not full bodied but pleasant
Finish – Honey, mild with a bit of bitter
Overall – An easy drinking whisky, nothing exceptional but entirely drinkable

While nice to have something from Canada, there is nothing to make me stand up and go ‘Oh!’ Our contributor shared a similar reaction… and then went to on to share her explorations of newer craft distilleries whose whiskies are yet to come!

So we are still hopeful our patriotic Canadian whisky hearts will find something to fall in love it from our ‘original’ home to share with our friends in our ‘adopted’ home India.

For those that are curious, here are the official tasting notes:

Forty Creek Confederation Oak is the colour of old gold and is a very full bodied whisky. To the nose it is a big whisky with constantly evolving aromas and flavours.

Beginning with a maple-raisin-vanilla-fig, layers of praline, banana, butter cream, honeyed nuts, marzipan, spice and orange blossoms. As it lingers, dark dried fruits and anise evolve. On the palate it has a very rich entry; soft, round and dry. Full bodied with vanilla, butter cream and pepper spice which is nicely framed with oak, walnut and smoke.

An exceptional finish that has great depth. A long lingering finish with fading spice and white pepper. Excellent balance and vibrant flavour.

Here’s what others have to say about this Forty Creek:

Other whiskies sampled in our Whisky Ladies session in November 2015 included:

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Whisky Ladies November tasting adventures – take two!

Posted on December 14, 2015 by Carissa Hickling

Our lovely ladies gathered not once but twice in November!

After a Cask Strength Diwali featuring Glenfarclas 105 60%, Chichibu 2009 63.1%, A’bunadh 35 60.3%… we were ready for a change of pace.

Photo courtesy of our host @ShrutiS

Our line-up included:

Forty Creek Confederation Oak Reserve 40% – A little Canadian oak action!
Nikka Blended Whisky 40% – An interesting though schizophrenic whisky
Oban 14 year 43% – Familiar friend
Sheringham William’s White Double Distilled Grain 45% – Distinctly different

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Singapore sipping – Miyagikyo 15 year 45%

Posted on December 13, 2015 by Carissa Hickling

The wonderful thing about Singapore is that even places that are primarily for post-work beers such as The Bank Bar + Bistro near Asia Square stock a decent collections of whiskies.

Interestingly the server shared how they are pushing patrons towards the Glenfarclas and away from the Japanese whiskies they earlier promoted. Perhaps due to the rising prices and scarcity of the Japanese whiskies they are simply working through the remaining stock and trying to encourage a return to old faithfuls from Scotland?

Naturally of the whiskies on offer, my eye was drawn to the Miyagikyo… particularly the 15 year. Yet horror of all horrors, they serve in standard glasses. Oh… my inner whisky snob is definitely surfacing!

What did I find with the whisky?

Nose – Very sweet! Lots of toffee, fudge, mild spice…. apples… stewed apples to be precise
Palate – Can I just say – yum? Malty, bit of spice, a little bitter cinnamon bark, dry, has a good mouthfeel… a toffee sweetness
Finish – Definitely malty, quite pleasant with a splash of spice. Nice that it doesn’t just dash off but instead settles in for a friendly visit

No tropical fruits or other citrus elements, no perfume or sea salt. Why mention what its not? Well… normally I expect something more from the nose for a Japanese whisky. This one didn’t seem to have such layers of complexity on the nose… It also didn’t have the decidedly ‘feminine’ quality I was anticipating from a Miyagikyo. However in fairness… take one look at the picture and you know it wasn’t exactly sampled using optimal tasting glassware!

Overall the yumminess of the whisky and quite lovely finish more than compensated. In short – delightful.

Curious to see what others think, before publishing this post I looked up what the “Chaps at Master of Malt” have to say… OK this is scary… I swear I did not look at their notes before writing mine. I pinky swear it! But it does seem to back-up the impression of lovely but not so complex on the nose…

Tasting Notes by the chaps at Master of Malt

Nose: Very sweet with vanilla fudge, toffee apple and spice. A straightforward nose, without heaps of complexity, but very charming nonetheless.
Palate: Malty, toffeyed, and generically fruity, this is a great session dram – not too heavy, and very pleasing.
Finish: Spices, hints of granary toast. Malty.

The ‘Downton Abbey’ of whiskies – Glenburgie 15 year 43% (Gordon + MacPhail)

Posted on December 10, 2015 by Carissa Hickling

Glenburgie is another one of those Speyside distilleries that you’ve likely had before in a blend, just didn’t know it! Ever had Ballantine’s? If so, you’ve had plenty of Glenburgie whisky!

As usual, we sampled blind then revealed the whisky.

Glenburgie 15 year 43% (Gordon & MacPhail)

Colour – Pale honey
Nose – Lots of honey, overripe fruit, dry
Palate – Very smooth, well-rounded, buttery, sweet spice… did we mention smooth??
Finish – Quite peculiar and tough to pin down initially, bitter dark chocolate, a bit like a dry chardonnay, dusky
Water – Um… I think we forgot to try….
Speculation – Sense of being a whisky that may typically be used in a blend
Comments – A perfect example of a whisky that is light yet complex, like the ‘Downton Abbey’ of whisky, there is a certain elegance and style

The hit of the evening? The Glenburgie though the Aultmore was also both interesting and enjoyable. Absolutely nothing wrong with the Hibiki however nothing exceptional either – just a rather pleasant dram.

However it once again reminded us – Yup – blindly just buy Gordon & MacPhail. Period. And just to re-inforce, our host pulled out the Mortlach 15 year to revisit.

Another member noted that the bottle indicates this Glenburgie was ’selected, produced & bottled’ by Gordon & MacPhail with the ‘produced’ element not standard statement in Gordon & MacPhail bottlings. Hmm…

Naturally, this prompted interest in comparing the Gordon & MacPhail Aultmore 14 year (2000) with the Aultmore 18 year we just sampled.

The other whiskies sampled in our November session included:

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Aultmore ‘Foggie Moss’ 18 year 46%

Posted on December 9, 2015 by Carissa Hickling

Once upon a time you hardly heard of Aultmore… Capitalising on this, the folks over at Bacardi aka John Dewar & Sons created a marketing campaign positioning Aultmore as one of the “Last great malts of Scotland“ known as a “secret dram of locals and Buckie fishermen.”

Late 2014 they began to release three different expressions:

Aultmore is a rare Speyside malt known locally as “a nip of the Buckie Road.” The distillery’s water filters down through the misty, mysterious area called the Foggie Moss. Aultmore is rated top-class and is a dram sought after for its gentle grassy notes. Aultmore will be available from November with a 12- year-old, a 21-year-old in Travel Retail, and a 25-year-old in limited quantities.

By July 2015, this was joined by the 18 year which I picked up for another member at the “World of Whiskies” shop at Heathrow Airport after sampling a nip of the 12 and 21 year… At that time our tasting group had never tried anything from Aultmore so thought – why not?

Here is what we found… naturally tasted blind!

Aultmore ‘Foggie Moss’ 18 year 46%

Colour – Straw
Nose – Blue cheese, very fruity – particularly sweet lemon, seems quite effervescent, “Very nice!” Some jasmine flowers, a little licorice, herbs, mellows into a clean, light, crisp note
Palate – “Nice taste!” Considered more in the laal mirch (red pepper) kind of spice rather than the prick of black peppercorns, a burst of lemon, a bit chewy, a little leather, subtle but very much there…
Finish – A little haldi (turmeric), more of the faint leather… the finish is light but stays, understated but impressive
Water – Much better without water
Speculation – Distinct, didn’t feel like we’ve had it before
Comments – “A bit difficult to grasp initially, yet once you’ve cracked it, beautiful to be with!”

The unveiling – surprise! We actually HAD tried an Aultmore just the previous month – the Aultmore 2000 bottled by Gordon & MacPhail to be precise.

Once we knew the age, we started to speculate that perhaps they use 2nd fill bourbon casks given the light colour. Overall, we were pleasantly pleased and while ‘nice’ may seem a bit tame as a description, it really was quite… well… ‘nice’ in an enjoyable way!

The other whiskies sampled in our November session included:

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Hibiki Japanese Harmony “Master’s Select” 43%

Posted on December 8, 2015 by Carissa Hickling

My early introduction to Hibiki was with its enjoyable 12 year blend years ago and then its even more delightful 17 year sibling. However the craze for Japanese whiskies in recent years has meant pressures on stock and, like many other companies, Suntory is no exception to embracing the NAS trend rather than be restricted to have a year statement linked to the youngest whisky found in the bottle.

Japanese Harmony “Master’s Select” is a recent Hibiki offering found in most Duty Free shops around the world… and just so happens to be the whisky that kicked-off our regular group‘s November tasting trio!

As our normal practice, we sampled blind then revealed the whisky…

Hibiki Japanese Harmony NAS 43%

Colour – Amber
Nose – That new bottle ‘bang!’ with jackfruit, over-ripe fruit, then a little sour, slightly medicinal, morphing into sweet basil, a little Vicks vapour rub, very sweet, fresh, even a whiff of orange marmalade and eucalyptus
Palate – Dry, bitter, a bit ‘hard’ with light leather, quite ‘wintery’, a bit oaky, nutty – more along the lines of a betel nut with that astringent after taste, with a larger sip becomes quite spicy
Finish – There but relatively non-descript, nothing exceptional
Water – Without even adding, it feels like was already opened with a few drops of water, those that did found it spicier but didn’t add anything specific
Speculation – Sense that it is between 40 – 43%, feel of being a bit ‘junior’, could the colour have a little caramel?

The unveiling – the new Hibiki NAS blend with Yamazaki sherry cask, Hakushu and Chita.

And our overall thoughts? Quite straight, linear, no complexity, yet equally a ’no complaints’ kind of whisky! An entirely pleasant dram and when in the mood to simply sip, enjoy while listening to say.. classical music… this would do the trick!

Here’s what the Masters of Malt folks have to say about the whisky:

Hibiki Japanese Harmony is made with malt whiskies from the Yamazaki and Hakushu distilleries, as well as grain whisky from the Chita distillery. The whiskies are drawn from 5 different types of cask, including American white oak casks, Sherry casks and Mizunara oak casks. The blend itself was crafted by the Suntory Whisky blending team, led by Master Blender Shingo Torii. An elegant expression, with wafts of honey, orange, a herbaceous touch or two and light oak.

The other whiskies sampled in our November session included:

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Whisky double trouble

Posted on December 7, 2015 by Carissa Hickling

A funny thing is starting to happen… as our original whisky tasting group looks forward to our 5th year together, we are beginning to do a little inadvertent duplication.

As our practice is to rotate hosts with each host responsible for curating the evening, not disclosing the whiskies procured for our sampling pleasure until after we have tasted blind, it means we do not coordinate with each other to ensure we aren’t buying the same or similar thing.

At the time of the reveal, we are now occasionally hearing ‘Oh’ in a different tone as the whisky just tried was already acquired for a forthcoming session by another member. That happened in August with the Bruichladdich The Organic Scottish Barley 50%.

However for those that are similar, rather than exactly the same, it means we can play around with interesting comparisons… and in the coming months we will have opportunities to do just that!

Hibiki Harmony, Aultmore 18, Glenburgie 15

For example, November’s three whiskies included:

Hibiki Harmony NAS 43% – Technically well-crafted… but where is the soul?
Aultmore ‘Foggie Moss’ 18 year 46% – Surprisingly exceedingly ‘nice’!
Glenburgie 15 year 43% (Gordon & MacPhail) – Pronounced the “Downton Abbey” of whiskies!

Why is that remarkable?

We had just sampled the Aultmore 15 year bottled by Gordon & MacPhail the previous month… and here was another Aultmore. Naturally we have asked the hosts from both sessions to bring along both bottles to our next tasting in January!

And now that I have the delightful Whisky Ladies group too, that provides scope for even more such comparisons! Between the two whisky tasting groups, I was able to put side-by-side the distillery release of Caol Ila 12 year next to a Gordon & MacPhail Caol Ila 12 year.

For those of you part of a whisky tasting group, how do you acquire whiskies and organise your sessions?

And do you sometimes get that ‘Oh!’ of duplication or ‘Oooh!’ for another opportunity to do a different kind of comparison?

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Laphroaig 1987 16 year 46% from Silver Seal

Posted on December 5, 2015 by Carissa Hickling

As shared, my last trip to Singapore featured a remarkable whisky sampling evening at The Auld Alliance with eight different drams!

One of the more surprising whisky was a very uncharacteristic yet rather interesting Laphroaig. I’ve never associated ‘flowery’ with this distillery!

Laphroaig 16 years ‘Silver Seal‘ 1987/2004 46% (No 229 of 770)

Nose – Softer, easier, sweet, a sterile pharmaceutical quality like a sweet medicinal capsule
Taste – Initially sweet and flowery, a distinctly ‘meetha‘ (sweet) all the way down with mint, basil and honey, so light and yet grew into the faintest wisp of smoke? Sip further and it the smoke begins to uncurl itself revealing there is indeed a deeper element, growing and expanding into a more robust and rounded whisky than it seemed in the first few sips. Still retained a fresh, sweet quality yet with depth
Finish – Smooth, nice and easy, sweet peat
Overall – A sense of SILK, well balanced with more going on than first appeared

In fairness to this whisky, it was difficult to get back into the saddle after the utterly remarkable Lochside 1981. What was fascinating to us was this did not have the current bold Laphroaig whisky character – something much more nuanced and subtle.

You can find The Auld Alliance at:

9 Bras Basah Road, RendezVous Hotel, Gallery #02-02A, SINGAPORE 189559
info@theauldalliance.sg Tel: +65 6337 2201

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Lochside 1981 51.2% (Gordon + MacPhail)

Posted on December 4, 2015 by Carissa Hickling

The next up in our The Auld Alliance Singapore sampling suite simply stays with you! Lochside 1981 remains one of my all time favourites til date.

Lochside 1981 / bottled 2010 51.2% (Gordon & MacPhail)

Nose – Peat, meadow, grassy, fresh, hint below of spirit, from the nose alone a sense of some age, tropical fruits
Taste – Unbelievably smooth, silky with the nicest peat, absolutely no harshness, bursting with raisins, berries, a big swell of delicious spice, juicy
Finish – A gorgeous gift. The kind of finish that simply keeps on giving, shifting from berries to smoke to a savoury sweetness.
Overall – Had a sense of maturity, very well-balanced with the kind of finish that simply commands RESPECT!

In short, this one made us stop. We turned to each other and realised our evening could just end on this whisky – a true show stopper. One sip would last 15 minutes. This is the kind of whisky you wish you had in your cabinet. The kind you want to share with special folks who truly appreciate a quality dram. Without fanfare, it slipped into the class of one of the most memorable whiskies sampled til date.

From the discontinued Lochside distillery – known to be one of the ‘ugliest’ distilleries – Arun from The Auld Alliance shared it also used to produce beer. Bottled by Gordon & MacPhail, the label noted the whisky is matured in refill sherry hogshead.

Their notes indicate:

From the closed, and now demolished distillery, this Single Malt has hints of subtle spices and is laced with ripe, tropical fruits.

All I can say is, if you can try this whisky – just do it! It was last seen on WhiskyBase.com for € 350 however is no longer available. For more information about the distillery, you may find this post from WhiskyIntelligence of interest.

Other whiskies sampled as part of our Scottish quartet included: