September 2020
First of all, let me apologise for the delay in this post! Time is extremely limited at the moment but I endeavour to get this kind of thing out every month!
September was a big month. I attempted to go back to two reviews a week (something I’ve already peeled back to one) so there is a good pool of drams to draw from for this months award. As always, lets take a look at each of the whiskies and end with my personal favourite of the month.
First up this month is the Jura Seven Wood. Part of the 2018 line up refresh, this one has been aged, as the name suggest, in seven different woods. Personally, I didn’t feel that came across in the whisky. It’s not a terrible whisky, but it wasn’t very interesting either. And it’s far too expensive for what it is. For these reasons alone, it’s not even in the running this month.
Next up is the Quiet Man Blended. An Irish whiskey with some flowery stories around it, but we’re here to talk about the liquid. For me, this is probably a little youthful. The grain hasn’t had time to interact with the wood and it gives of a rather chemically vibe that I’m not a fan of. I heard good things about the 8 yr malt though, so here’s hoping that’s a little better!
The Mackmyra Moment Lava is next. Although this is a tasty dram, I have to say I was hoping for more smoke on it. It was a lovely thing to try, but as a seasonal release it’s already sold out and requires effort (and probably money) to track down. As such, I can’t recommend it over any regularly available Mackmyras and it misses the mark for this months top spot.
This is line of easy choosing. The next three could all have easily been the top dog this month given they are so different from each other. But I am committed to choosing so here we go. Next two in no particular order.
Coming my way via my Summerton Club membership, the Wolfburn Langskip is a mighty dram. With an abv of 58%, it packs a punch that I really like. It’s also aged in first-fill ex bourbon casks, but if I’m overly critical it could probably have with a couple more years to give it a deeper flavour. The price is also a talking point. I got it for £50 with the club and I think it’s great value for that. But the RRP is quite a bit more than that and I think that’s a bit excessive. Tasty drop, but not quite top dog.
In joint runner up with the Langskip is The Disciples Craigellachie 12. This the first in (hopefully) a good range of Disciples drams. The essentials are, this a single cask Craigellachie thats had 12 years in a sherry butt. There’s no doubt this is a top quality dram. For me, it was a just a touch too sherried and therefore lost out to the winner this month.
And the winner is…
The 48 Blended Scotch from Heroes & Heretics. Aged 10 years and at very good price considering the contents (a mix of three whiskies from Orkney, Highlands and Speyside). For me, this is the complete package and a very tasty dram.
As always, you can get more information about these whiskies by clicking the bold links direct to my videos