Facts

Nose

Fruity but not overly sweet. Kiwis, gooseberries and red apples, balanced by orange peels and lemons. Hints of vanilla and toffee. Some waxy undertones of strawberry candles.

Taste

Light with a creamy sweetness. Apricotes, peaches, vanilla and orange slices in caramel sauce, followed by a slight spiciness of rose pepper and cloves. A whiff of oak in the back. Gets pretty watery after a while.

Finish

Medium. Cafe Latte, milk chocolate and honeyed oranges.

Overall

A good solid Speyside whisky, but nothing amazingly special.

Score: good but not exceptional (81 / 100)

Sample provided by Caminneci – Wine & Spirit Partner

By the way, Tenné is another name for Tawny and describes a light brown to brownish-orange color. Maybe you knew that already, but I had to look that one up as non-native speaker.

Facts

Nose

Fresh with the sweet smell of fermented strawberries. Then gooseberries, raspberries, red apples and stewed bananas alongside lots of sweet malt. Vanilla pudding, white honey, hard caramel and strawberry toffee. Pretty nice altogether, although the alcohol isn’t that well integrated.

Taste

Sweet and fruity but also rather bitter and alcoholic. Reminds me of strawberry liqueur with a tea spoon of honey.

Finish

Medium with lots of bitter oak. Milk chocolate, strawberries and herbal toothpaste.

Overall

Decent but not that tasty. Seriously, the nose is pretty good, but all the rest is rather disappointing. It’s just too immature and uneven for my liking.

Score: average but worth a try (77 / 100)

Sample provided by Caminneci – Wine & Spirit Partner

In case you were wondering already, SPEY is only a brand name and not the name of the actual distillery. The distillery in question is the Speyside distillery. Not a very creative name, or?

The SPEY Chairman’s Choice comes from a tradition started by John & Robert Harvey, where the chairman of the company would choose the finest casks of whisky on Christmas Day to share with the family.

Facts

Nose

Light, fruity and kinda sourish. Cider vingear and overripe oranges as well as white gooseberries and some pears. Caramel, a bit of vanilla and some grassy notes. Oh, and herbal toothpaste.

Taste

Not as thin as expected. Pears, dried fruits, toffee, roasted nuts, white honey and sugar with cinnamon.

Finish

Short and creamy. Sweet almonds, mint chocolate and hints of oak.

Overall

If you are looking for a simple, anything but challenging single malt that goes down very well and comes in a nice looking, representative packaging, then this one might be the right one for you.

Score: average but worth a try (78 / 100)

Sample provided by Caminneci – Wine & Spirit Partner

Facts

Nose

A lovely fruitiness of ripe yellow plums, very pleasant. Next come Pears, apricots, tangerine peels and strawberry yogurt, rounded off by orange honey and vanilla beans. The alcohol is nicely integrated.

Taste

Sweet creamy, yet surprisingly rich and strong. Again apricots and yellow plums as well as peaches. Black pepper corns and oak, the light spiciness adds another layer of complexity. Gets dryer towards the end.

Finish

Medium. Spicy oak joined by apricots and peach tea.

Overall

A honest, yet somewhat untypical Ben Nevis with a great balance of fruit and oak. Needs time in the glass to open up.

Score: good but not exceptional (86 / 100)

Sample provided by whic.de

Facts

Nose

Kinda cheesy… no seriously, there is literally some sort of cheese upfront… maybe Parmesan? Then mashed bananas, hard caramel, raisins and slightly burnt vanilla crescents, followed by icing sugar and wholemeal flour.

Taste

Fruity, yet intense. Sweet malt, ginger, caramel and cooked bananas with nutmeg. Hints of oak.

Finish

Long and drying. Oak alongside some fruits. A bit of smoked cheese perhaps.

Overall

Maybe not the “classic” festive bottling I would expect, but very interesting and extremely tasty once you get used to cheese aroma.

Score: good but not exceptional (86 / 100)

Alright, the first one for today is a Ben Nevis 1995 bottled by Wilson & Morgan as part of their Barrel Selection bottling series.

Facts

Nose

Sticky and sweet with lots of maraschino cherries, tropical fruits and oranges. Soft caramel and honeyed raisins. Maybe a tiny bit of smoke, too.

Taste

Intense, the high strength is definitely notable now. At first rather sour with grapefruit and sour cherries, but it gets spicy and woody pretty quickly. Some dried tea leaves appear towards the end.

Finish

Medium, peppery and a bit fruity.

Overall

A really exciting and engaging nose, but the rest is a bit of a let down.

Score: good but not exceptional (83 / 100)

Milsean is the seventh, and therefore latest, annual release in the Private Edition series from Glenmorangie. Milsean is Scots Gaelic for “sweet things” and gives you already a pretty good idea what this expression is all about. But before we delve more into this, let me say how happy I am to see that Glenmorangie is taking the Private Edition series back to its roots because for me, this series is all about special and well selected casks. So yeah, I am really excited for that expression, especially after the pretty disappointing Tùsail from last year.

Anyways, Milesan was finished in re-toasted wine casks after a first maturation in ex-Bourbon barrels. Now, I find wine finishes always a bit tricky, because there is not much middling ground. They are either hit or miss, at least in my opinion. That said, Glenmorangie released with the Companta a truly superb wine finished expression a few years ago, so I have some high hopes when it comes to the Milsean.

As for the packaging, I don’t really mind it as much as some others do. To be honest, I somewhat like this retro candy shop look and I think it just fits the “sweet things” theme.

Facts

Nose

Definitely lives up to its name. Just imagine a big cup filled with coconut, citrus and mint ice cream. With raspberry sauce. And roasted almonds. And gummy bears. And vanilla marshmallows. And some cocktail cherries on top. And while I find all this sweetness rather pleasant, it feels also a bit artificial at times.

Taste

Fruity and very sweet as expected, but there is also an interesting spicy touch. Vanilla and coconut as well as William Pears, balanced by oak, but without the bitterness. Overripe mangoes alongside hints of plums, oranges and honey.

Finish

Medium to long. Sweet and slightly bitter with warming spices. Candied ginger together with some fruits, hard to tell which ones though. Altogether a little bit flat.

Overall

Not very complex, but almost dangerously tasty. Does the Milsean bring the Privat Edition back to its former glory? No, it doesn’t, at least in my opinion. But at least the series is back on the right track, so let’s see what next year brings!

Score: good but not exceptional (86 / 100)

Sample provided by spiritscorner.eu

Glenmorangie The Tayne (old spelling for Tain) is the latest addition to the Legends bottling series, a collection of single malts exclusive to Travel Retail. This expression was inspired by the legend of a Spanish Galleon which sunk in the Dornoch Firth (than known as the Firth of Tayne) after it got separated from the Spanish Armada during the England invasion in 1588. In connection with the theme, The Tayne was finished in ex-Amontillado casks.

As reported by the Whisky Gospel, The Tayne and The Duthac will become permanent additions at Travel Retail, replacing the trio of Nectar D’Or, Lasanta and Quinta Ruban. But no worries, all three expressions will be still available in normal shops.

Facts

Nose

Very, very light. Roasted nuts, maybe not the roasted chestnuts from the official tasting notes, but definitely some macadamia nuts and cashews, and maybe some walnuts as well. Espresso sweetened with brown sugar, honeyed raisins and chocolate-covered coffee beans. Sweet red grapes and figs. Candy floss. Floral hints in the back.

Taste

Oily, warming and spicy. Citrus peels, mangoes and papayas. Burnt popcorn with caramel sauce. Hints of walnuts and coffee.

Finish

Medium to long and slightly spicy. Dried fruits, milk chocolate, bitter citrus fruits and coffee.

Overall

A bit different, but definitely tasty and very enjoyable. That said, I think this expression would benefit from a higher strength (let’s say 46% ABV).

Score: good but not exceptional (84 / 100)

Sample provided by spiritscorner.eu

So another — what else would you expect —  limited edition (UK only), this time inspired by Glenmorangie’s tradition to treat The Sixteen Men of Tain with a special whisky for the holiday season. A Midwinter Night’s Dram was first matured in ex-Bourbon casks and was then finished in ex-Oloroso Sherry casks. Sounds familiar to me…

Facts

Nose

Creamy with a soft sweetness. Sweet oranges, lots of them. Canned pears, bottled cherries and dried fruits. Reminds me of warm wassail. Walnuts and macadamia nuts. Toffee. More oaky and minty after a while. Yes, very wintry indeed.

Taste

Warm and spicy. Walnuts and burnt caramel, alongside hints of oranges, ginger and honey. Dark chocolate creme with citrus peels. Some peppery oak in the back.

Finish

Short and warming with a dry creaminess of sweet malt and green walnuts.

Overall

Doesn’t disappoint, but doesn’t add anything new either. Don’t get me wrong, this is a very solid expression for sure, but in my opinion, they just repacked the old Lasanta and slapped a higher price tag on it. Why spend the extra bucks when I can get the “original” for a fraction of the price?

Score: good but not exceptional (84 / 100)

Alright, Dornoch is a limited travel retail edition inspired by the Dornoch Firth, the shore where Glenmorangie is located. In order to preserve this beautiful estuary, Glenmorangie makes a donation to the Marine Conservation Society for every bottle sold.

But enough of the backstory, let’s talk about the whisky itself. Dornoch combines whisky matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks and lightly peated whisky finished in ex-Amontillado Sherry casks and comes without an age statement but with a pretty high price tag (around 75€).

By the way, a new travel retail bottling named Glenmorangie Talogan will replace the Dornoch in March or April.

Facts

Nose

Very light. Grass, hey and even some raw malt. Roasted almonds and peanuts, hard caramel and Granny Smiths. Maybe some vanilla, too. Undertones of floral perfume.

Taste

Lots of lemons. Nougat, apple juice and a few oranges. Oak. Hints of mint chocolate. Perhaps some minimal smoke with a lot of good will.

Finish

Medium. Lemon candies,caramel and a tiny bit vanilla.

Overall

Solid, but not a lot more. Could be a nice entry level expression with the right price tag.

Score: average but worth a try ( 80 / 100)

Sample provided by spiritscorner.eu