October 2020
This months WotM is a game of two halves. Of the four drams I covered on YouTube, two are easy to dismiss and two fought for the top spot like their lived depended on it. The fact that the separation between the two duos is indie vs OB may be a sign of the quality you can obtain if you’re willing to pay a bit extra, or it could just be indicative of my own desires to find bold and balanced flavour profiles.
In any case, as always, lets check out the ones that didn’t make the top spot first. And don’t forget to watch the full reviews for additional info.
First up is the Jura 18 Year Old. If you only look at age vs cost, you’d be fooled into believing this to be good value. But add into the mix a (relatively) low abv, added colour and chill filtration and the numbers don’t quite add up for me. It certainly is drinkable, and any fans of Jura will likely not be too disappointed, but there’s a lot out there for the same price or less. Not recommended.
Second in the sin bin this month is Johnnie Walker Double Black. This maybe my fault for going into with actual expectation. I like the regular Black Label, and often cite it as a good value daily sipper. Thus I assumed that the double black would be some kind of step from it. It isn’t.
So then, the second half. Both of these drams are of exceptional value and quality and they are both very different from one another. Therefore, as is often the case, it came down to my personal preference in taste. Onwards!
Runner up then, The Higginbottom Strathclyde 27 Years. I can often be heard singing the praises of a well aged grain whisky. This is no exception. 55%, non chill filtered, natural colour and single cask. All this for a penny away from £90 (you get 10% off if you join their ‘tribe’ for free). It is 50cl though, so factor that into your value calcs before jumping in. I still think its on point though. But, in the end, peat beat it.
The winner this month is the Na Braithrean Coal Ila 9 Years ‘Big Brother’. These guys are doing something interesting with their releases, but you can watch the review to really delve into that. This release has seen a final year in PX cask and, although I typically don’t like PX influence, the mixture of sherry and peat definitely does it for me. I am going to find it hard to reach past this bottle for sure.
