Blanton's Single Barrel

I finally got hold of one of these bottles with a horsey on it.

Over at Weisshaus this tends to disappear the day it goes on the website, so I acted quickly in this case. €70 and three days later I got my very own bottle of Blanton's Single Barrel. 

It's well-made bourbon but, with the caveat that batches from other barrel's could be somewhat different, it doesn't stand out for any particular reason.

This could be because I got this between Maker's Mark 46 (€50) and Russell's Reserve 10 (which I paid €70 in Vienna for, but is $35 in the US) and I really enjoyed both of those. They bought something extra to the table and this brings, well, a nice stopper (I didn't mean to photograph the horse's ass, by the way, but now I've noticed it I'm not going to change it).

Note: At the link above Blanton's is now €100 and it's €130 at Expert24 which is something. But it's not something I'm going to buy.

BONUS LEGO REVIEW

A mini Tie Fighter so you can dogfight with the X-wing. It looks the part and the build was simple enough that you can do it without looking at the Advent calendar door flap instructions. Thumbs up!
 

Peat's Beast Cask Strength

Despite the name (and the ABV) this isn't really a scary beast unless you drink a whole bottle and spend the next week with burps that taste like an ashtray.

It's not timorous either.

It's full of intense flavours to match the ABV but it's not overwhelmed by the peat in the way something like Smokehead can be.

It's sweet and briny which, to me. can sometimes smell like fresh sweat. It's quite tannin heavy with a good long finish.

I've had a few cask strength bottles recently and some, Ileach for example, do bring something extra, but in this case the regular may be the better option.

BONUS LEGO REVIEW

 It's a tiny ballista (from when the Sandpeople helped Mando take down the Krayt dragon) that fires snowballs. I like it, it's cute.

Ardbeg 10 Year Old

It's Ardbeg Ten. It doesn't really matter what I think of it -- but I do like it. 

It seems to have become the go-to peated Islay as it is readily available, not too expensive and not quite as medicinal as some of the others. It has the added benefit of being 46%ABV and is non-chill filtered, so it crosses boundaries between "malt-mates" and "beginners".

It's the standard against which all other peated whisky can be judged.

I've been asked "if you had a bar and could only stock 3 whiskys, what would they be?" My answer at the time was this, Arran 10 and Wild Turkey 101. Safe, I guess, but I think that covers a lot of bases well.

BONUS LEGO REVIEW

A tiny x-wing. Lego have made so many of these, I think every advent calendar has to have one, but this is a really good one. Instantly recognisable and with working s-foils. Nice!

Glenborrodale

I bought Adelphi's Glenborrodale (from Grand Whisky in Linz) because it was cloudy. And a blended malt. And I'd, at that point, not heard of Adelphi.

My guess then, and now, is that a good but cloudy whisky cask is a bit cheaper because the distiller can't get rid of it.

Adelphi, an Independent bottler, gets a few casks like this and puts them together, The result in this case is a cloudy blended malt that tastes like buttered popcorn. And other things when you put your mind to it, but mostly the popcorn thing.

I like it.

There are only 1404 bottles of this but Andrea let me open it anyway.

As an aside one distillery that is starting to get a lot of mentions on the things that I follow is Ardnamurchan. Adelphi own it and though you can can some Adelphi bottles in Austria, Ardnamurchan is almost non-existant. I'll keep an eye open, though, because this was a whisky that I bought for novelty that was, not totally unexpectedly, very good. So I have a feeling they know what they are doing.

Adelphi also do a €20 blend which I'm now tempted to give (do) a shot.

BONUS LEGO REVIEW

Every Lego advent calender has a few days that are simply a random selection of bricks that make a "weapon rack". This is one of them.

Mortlach 12

 

Yes, I bought this for the bottle.

 

But it's also a very good whisky. It's been stored in sherry casks and this means it's got those rich notes of dried fruit and slight nuttiness.

Disappointingly, it's got added colour and no mention of being non-chill filtered (and as it is 43%, probably has been filtered). You'd probably have to get an independent bottling if those characteristics are vital to you (to me they are an excellent bonus).

It's not as heavily sherried as some and I'm always quietly surprised by this when I reach for it.

€55 at Weisshaus though I might be tempted by the G&M version next time.

The Wee Witchie is one of the stills, by the way. This bottle's all just marketing, isn't it? "2.81 Distilled" what does that even mean? Please Diageo cut down on the guff.

 

 

BONUS LEGO REVIEW

 

 

It's a Tusken Raider.

Mossburn Craigellachie 10 Year Old 2007

I'd not heard of Mossburn until about 30 minutes before I bought this bottle. It was the last bottle of this particular type on Expert 24.

Craigellachie 13, which is more readily available, is a lovely fruity whisky that is definitely worth your time. This is interesting to compare to it as it is obviously similar and then different in ways that could be attributed to the barrels used or being slightly younger. There's a bitterness at the back of this that contrasts nicely to the honeyed fruits that you get at first.

Now I have heard of Mossburn, I do fancy trying a couple more drams.
 

BONUS LEGO REVIEW

Little blue landspeeder, baby you're much too fast. A pleasure to build and a great little model even if I can't remember this being in The Mandalorian. I especially like how the round piece under the bonnet gives the impression of a grill.

Teeling Stout Cask Finish

 

I like the normal Teeling a lot. It's a got a lot of flavour and the 46% ABV gives you a bit of wallop that's missing from, say, Jameson at around the same price point. I think it smells like over-ripe bananas but in a good way.

This is the Stout Cask Finish version and it adds some notes of cocoa and coffee to make it even more drinkable. Good stuff but the sticking point here is the price: €38 at Expert 24 is about €10 too much.

BONUS LEGO REVIEW

A tiny Imperial Armoured Marauder. You can admire the effort, but it doesn't quite work

Tamnavulin

Tamnavulin: what €20 of whisky tastes like (TBF it's not bad just not anything in particular).

BONUS LEGO REVIEW

I think they are targets for the previous day....

Bunnahabhain 12 Year Old

 For some reason Bunnahabhain is a bit of a blind spot for me. I must have had it previously as I am a fan of Islay malts in general and know I've talked to people who are stans for "the Bunna".

There was an online knockout thing where the Bunnahabhain people good-naturedly roused its supporters to a decent placing (nothing was going to beat Laphroaig, though) and then it got nominated for the OSWA's best beginner's whisky categorie and, well, I had to know.

It smells like the sea. As for taste, it's a soft experience, especially compared to classic Islays, but there's sherry and nuts and a light touch of smoke. For when you want a quiet evening with something well-made but not too challenging.

BONUS LEGO REVIEW

This is the e-web blaster. Lego have done a few different takes over the years and this is decent and keeps the advent theme by firing snowballs. After three days of good stuff a come down was inevitable.

Flora & Fauna Teaninich 10 Year Old

 Teanininch has some nice little history nuggets that you can tell people as you share it with them.

It's owned by Diageo and produces 10.2 million litres of whisky a year, so it's one of the biggest distilleries in Scotland. Most of that, though, goes in to various blends, including Johnnie Walker.

To produce the wort for the whisky they use a hammer mill and mash filter. No I don't know either but it's the only one operational in a Scottish malt distillery.

It's good to keep them distracted because when you let them taste it they will tell you that it's grassy.

And it is, there are some sweeter layers and there's some fruit, citrus and vanilla, its a curious layered whisky that needs some time to open up.

But mostly they will say it's grassy and beg you to give them another dram of Glenallachie 15.

BONUS LEGO REVIEW

It's a Stormtrooper.

Wild Turkey: Longbranch

This whiskey is the result of a collaboration between of Wild Turkey’s creative director Matthew "Mahogany" McConaughey and master distiller Eddie Russell.

Short review: It's alright, alright, alright.

It's Wild Turkey filtered through mesquite charcoal and then, for whatever reason, watered down slightly. So it's a gentle bourbon that packs plenty of flavour. It's a fairly typical WT with extra woody notes layered over it. 

An effortless sipper you are probably meant to drink on a rustic porch somewhere while looking lightly windswept.

I would have liked it a lot more, though, if it were 100 proof.

€38 a litre at Expert24 , so a decent price if you fancy some of Mahogany's juice.

BONUS LEGO REVIEW

Day 2 brings us another spaceship. One that you have to Google if you aren't a hardcore Mandolorian fan - it's from some other bounty hunter and has about 2 seconds of screen time. Another fun build, though, and, for its size, very swooshable.

 

Kilkerran 12 Year Old

 I could describe this to you, but it's better if you just track down a bottle and try it for yourself. A pleasant surprise every time from nose to finish always managing to be slightly different. Not too expensive either (€55 from Weisshaus) but it does tend to sell out.

Bonus LEGO review:

From the Star Wars Advent Calender Day 1 is a small but fantastically formed Razor Crest. Instantly recognizable and a fun little build. Hope the other days are this good.