Wally (sniff) – Page 4

Scotch VS Scotch : Glenfiddich 19 Age of Discovery Bourbon Cask versus Glenfiddich 14 Bourbon Cask Reserve

Posted on October 16, 2015October 17, 2015 by Scotch N Sniff

Wait a minute…. Oh boy. A three way scotch battle! You’d think the 19 Age of Discovery Bourbon Cask (19AoDBC) would be a winner over the 14 Boubon Barrel Reserve (14BBR) but we’re throwing a ringer in the mix. The Glenfiddich Malt Master’s Edition (MME) had a nose that was similar despite it’s source barrels so it gets a shot.

[Full disclaimer: the 19AoDBC is my absolute favorite scotch. I have three bottles and will buy the rest that I can find! -Sniff sidenote]

COLOR: Surprisingly the 14BBR is the lightest of the three. It’s a lighter gold when compared to the orange hues in the MME and the darker brown 19AoDBC.

NOSE: The MME is only in this race because I can smell the oak influences that give it some bourbon-y notes on the nose that share a stage with sherry. Due to the sherry though, the MME also has typical dry sherry spices on the nose with some more-typical Glenfiddich fruits like apple and pear behind it. The 14BBR is lighter in comparison. Almost a ghost in strength compared to the aromatic MME. The 14BBR is also much more floral and fruity. Baked fruit, fruit sugar, and subtle sweetness like the smell of marshmallow but not the taste (vanilla?), all rise to the top. Very faint wisps of oak cut through the sweetness. The 19AoDBC has a faint astringent and medicinal alcohol that rises to the top just under a cloak of apple filled, charred oak barrels and figs. The oak is strong but not overpowering at all.

PALATE: The 19AoDBC is smoooth on the tongue like sateen sheets on skin. There is a ripe poached pear drizzled in cinnamon adventure that dances on the tongue. It’s sweet but not overbearing. The 14BBR isn’t as smooth, though it is tasty. It carries the typical overbearing burnt oak that many bourbons are known for. The MME, oy! The Sherry hits your tongue like a ton of bricks! What a different world compared to the 14 and 19!

FINISH: The 19AoDBC finish is medium in length, warm, and inviting. It is the best of what oak has to offer without the typical harsh edge that lives in many bourbons. The 14BBR finish is very woody but not sour. Oaky but not anywhere near as smooth as the 19AoDBC. The finish for the MME is strong and filled with dry sherry tones. It has a slight bit of sour, rubbery, Sherry to it but not enough to be a put off.

So what happened here?? I brought these three bottles together thinking there would be some type of SvS comparison to be made but it looks like we all got had! The 14BBR is not a cheaper substitute for the 19AoDBC as I had hoped. That was my dream: discover the 14 to taste like the 19 and then buy a couple of cases of the 14! :D. But alas, the 19 is still in a realm of its own. The MME was good but after getting beyond the nose and really sitting down with it, I see it doesn’t really bear a resemblance to the other two bourbon based bottles buddied along in this bogus blog comparison. Go figure. The Sherry rose to the occasion!

If you’re looking for a younger oak taste with the nose of a fruit farm, go for the 14BBR. If you’re looking for refined taste with a handful of layers to appreciate and really enjoy while reading, grab the 19AoDBC. It’s heavenly and (unfortunately for my wallet) carries the value of its price quite well in a glass.

Slainte.

-[Sniff]

Afterthoughts:

The 19 AoDBC spent all 19 years of it’s life in ex-bourbon casks with no finishing casks that have become quite popular.

The 14 BBR spent 14 years in ex-bourbon casks and then spent a bit of time being finished in “American New Oak”.

The MME spent an unknown time in ex-bourbon casks and then more unknown time maturing in sherry casks.

Scotch VS Scotch : Glenfiddich 26 Excellence vs Glenfarclas 25

Posted on September 15, 2015September 15, 2015 by Scotch N Sniff

Hello there fellow scotch addict!

One of our primary goals here at ScotchNSniff is to bring you suggestions that are focused on value. We like the idea of bringing a suggestion to you that we can stand behind (and almost more importantly, one we can enjoy ourselves!).

Most people try to place scotch into two piles; one, for the rich and one for the rest of us… but in reality, value exists across the spectrum of scotches in spite of price and regardless of your budget. It’s the biggest reason we do a Christmas suggestion list each year, knowing that not everyone can afford to spend a grand on a bottle but almost anyone can come up with fifty bucks for a special occasion.

Today though, we’re going to pit a $500 bottle of Glenfiddich Excellence 26 year against the 25 year offering from Glenfarclas that carries a price tag of $225. At literally less than half of the price of the Glenfiddich, this might seem like a strange comparison but considering the whisky in the barrels took almost the same amount of time to age, it may be difficult to justify the difference in price.

In typical SnS fashion, it’s time to get on with the CNPF reviews!

COLOR: The Glenfarclas has a gorgeous wheat color where the Glenfiddich is a surprisingly light color, resembling white grape juice.

NOSE: The Glenfarclas smells strongly of spices commonly found in Sherry. Do yourself a favor, if you’ve never smelled Sherry and want to recognize it every time you smell it, grab a bottle of Pedro Ximenez (PX) Sherry and enjoy! It pours like motor oil, looks like used motor oil, and tastes like heaven! (I’m a big port fan, so fortified wines are some of my closest friends!). Nosing the Glenfiddich, after the Glenfarclas sherry monster, you’ll notice a bit of smoke that ties the fruity and floral notes together. It’s definitely a sweeter nose versus the spicy Glenfarclas.

PALATE: Imagine a candy cane that’s had almost all of its mint removed but still retains that sugary candy cane sweet flavor. Now melt that flavor into a velvety butter and place it on your tongue. Now roll it around finding some smoke and some vanilla mixed into softly charred oak along the way. Now breathe in deep the spices and oak. If you read that with your imagination, you just tasted the Glenfiddich 26.

Now imagine a tannic sherry (really) with its slew of spices setting up base camp on your tongue. Christmas spices have found a place near the middle of your tongue. Pepper parked itself near the back of your tongue. Cinnamon, nutmeg, and Christmas have found their way to the tip of your tongue. Now imagine all of these camps suffered from a massive landslide into your gullet as you sip them down. I hope you love sherry because it’s your new best friend!

FINISH: The Glenfarclas 25 finishes with hints of fresh chocolate, like you’d smell at the Hershey factory… and that chocolate just melted into a bowl of sherry. This is wonderful. The Glenfiddich 26 has a wonderful finish that starts with spice and oak, but slowly and linearly gives way to fruit sugar. Quite tasty.

So who wins out? Who wins this installment of SvsS? As I’ve said with other SvsSs, you can’t actually go wrong with either of these bottles. It’s a matter of personal choice when you’re looking for a specific flavor to enjoy when you sit down with a dram. If you’re looking for value though, it’s difficult to say the extra year in oak bourbon barrels is worth the $275 price difference. If you love sherry and Christmas spices, you can pick up two bottles of the Glenfarclas AND a bottle of Glenfiddich’s fruit-bomb-that-is-its 12 year for the same price as the 26 excellence. Again though, we’re talking a very different set of flavors. The Glenfiddich 12 isn’t in the same league when it comes to complexity of flavors though it is very good. It’s just different and in a different world of value.

So which would you choose? What do you think about this comparison?

-[Sniff]

Scotch VS Scotch : The Macallan 10 Fine Oak versus The Macallan 17 Fine Oak

Posted on June 29, 2015June 22, 2015 by Scotch N Sniff

We love getting requests for Scotch VS Scotch comparisons. We’ve had the idea to post these for a while but have only recently decided to be intentional about it. Our first installment of the SvS was the Aberlour A’bunadh versus the Macallan Rare Cask. Hopefully this comparison is just as entertaining. We’re sticking with two from the same distillery this time.

🙂

Nose:
Both very oaky… SURPRISE! The 10 contains some typical oak sour notes like a too-young-spirit. The 17 shows sweet notes off the bat and it’s rich in smoke too. The 17 is like fireplace smoke drizzled in sugar.

Palate:
The 10 is edgy and very forward with its oak infused spices. I hate making references to fresh cracked black pepper so often but oak always brings this out in the reviews. The 10 suffers from an almost bitter edge like cinnamon though. The fruit require a bit of work to taste… subtle behind the oak. The 17 is also full of spices and signature oak offerings are balanced with a sweetness.

Let’s add some water, shall we?

The 17 has turned into quite the fruit sugar drink that teeters the entire time on the line of the oak qualities. What a wonderfully balanced dram. There is light sweetness in the 10 now but it’s become insanely tannic. To the point it’s difficult to decipher flavors. It’s still a bottle of oak infused water. It’s no where near the balance of sweet like the 17. Comparitively, the 10 is unrefined against the 17. Like it wanted to be it’s big brother but barely got halfway there.

Finish:
The 10 finishes like a champ though. It rolls off smoothly and doesn’t linger like an awkward phone call. It’s cordial and willing to say goodbye. The 17 is smooth, warm, and thick like honey. It finishes like a lover not ready to leave. Sweet smoke lingers if thee is such a thing.

(the post water finish changed a bit drastically)

The 17 finish becomes like melted butter on the tongue but more refreshing than oily.
The tannic ride doesn’t end with the 10. Time to drink a half a gallon of water to deal with this mouthful of cotton balls.

And there we have it. Is the 17 worth the $100 difference? Without a doubt. A wonderfully balanced bottle is a treasure. I’m surprised the 10 is even produced to represent the Macallan Fine Oak line. You’d have to be in love with sour, young oak to really love it. I’d rather spend the same on the standard 12 and enjoy the sherry. Slainté!

Macallan Fine Oak 10 vesus Macallan Fine Oak 17

Scotch VS Scotch : Aberlour A’bunadh versus The Macallan Rare Cask

Posted on June 22, 2015June 22, 2015 by Scotch N Sniff

We’re comparing a $90 cask strength Aberlour to a $300 macallan. Is there a $210 difference in these bottles? Let me just say off the bat, the packaging, bottle, and bottle topper for the rare cask are worth the first hundred dollars. The bottle is beautifully cut and angled with feminine shoulders donning a low necked top. The topper is one solid piece of metal with a checkered pattern holding the cork. The packaging is magnetically held closed and wonderfully compliments the bottle. So with that very expensive but effective marketing aside, the bottles don’t compare in the presentation category.

Nose:
Considering the Rare Cask from Macallan and the A’bunadh from Aberlour are both aged in magical Sherry casks, it’s no surprise that their noses are similar but the Abunadh immediately stands out… as its almost-20%-higher-alcohol-content train wrecks it’s way into your nostrils. The Rare Cask reeks of sherry and sweetened vanilla and more… The Abunadh is much more of a sherry with mouth watering orange marmalade and classic sun dried raisins. So though they both scream Sherry, they both have pretty obvious differences in the nose.

Palate:
The Abunadh at full strength is tannic and heavy handed. Holding it for a while on the tongue may be more dangerous than helpful to analyzing the flavors in the juice. The raisins reappear and pepper finds its way to the middle of the tongue. The alcohol is overwhelming though. Considering cask strengths like this (60%) can be cut in half, you’ve essentially bought two bottles of tastiness. That alone doubles the value of the Abunadh! So it’s really a $180 bottle vs a $300 bottle now! Minus the Rare Cask packaging, this has quickly become a fair fight!! The Rare Cask is much more kind to the palate… soft sherry gives rise to spices and pepper. They’re forward but not overwhelming.

And now we add water!

The Rare Cask was already mellow and the dilution only brings a touch of sweetness to the forefront but it’s still very much a spicy sherry bomb. Macallan knows their fans very well.
The A’bunadh isn’t any less tannic. It rushes to pull the water from your mouth but hold out for the sugar and spice of the Sherry. It might be the side by side reviews of two sherry bombs that’s hurting my objective… I’m betting on that… or the A’bunadh really did just shed its sugar.

Finish:
The Rare Cask is only slightly oily and lingers like sweet sugar cooking over a fire. A hint of caramelized sugar with a touch of smoke. Burnt sugar edges if you’ve ever had sugar fried into a pancake (like they do on the streets in Korea). The A’bunadh’s finish is manageable and not nearly as lingering. Surprising.

So how do they compare? The Macallan finds sugar and the A’bunadh finds spice. They both find sherry and they both taste amazing! They’re both worth their cost but the A’bunadh makes a great substitute for the Rare Cask as long as you’re not hunting for that extra sugary sweet over smoke over sherry.

Macallan Rare Cask vs Aberlour A'bunadh — Macallan Rare Cask vs Aberlour A’bunadh

Bruichladdich Scottish Barley : The Classic Laddie

Posted on December 15, 2014December 2, 2014 by Scotch N Sniff

COLOR: lightly wheated yellow

NOSE: though there are some peaty overtones, the sweetness shines through, warm honey, granulated sugar, slight vanilla,

PALATE: immediate spices on the tongue, OMG honey, wow!!!, the sweet flavors mix perfectly with the peat

FINISH: smokey like a shirt that’s spent time around a campfire, smooth like room temperature butter,

ADD WATER

NOSE: dang, now you can smell sugar outside of the glass, the water swallowed the peat, a little smoke lingers

PALATE: more fruit now on top of spices, like plum and currants,

FINISH: spicy smoke, smooth, creamy, yum

Surprisingly delicious and without burn for 50% alcohol content.
This… has replaced my daily sipper! (Glenfiddich 19). It’s so well balanced it’s hard NOT to like. It’s an amalgam of flavors from all parts of Scotland that entertains the tongue without wearing it out. Fan-freakin-tastic dram!

Sniff’s 2014 Scotch Christmas Gift Idea List Extravaganza Part I (lol)

Posted on December 2, 2014December 2, 2014 by Scotch N Sniff

Hi there!Looking for the perfect bottle of hooch for that loved one in your life? If they love single malt scotches, you’ve come to the right place. I know Scotch is working on his list but I fear it may be full of smokey, peaty, and “different” flavors that I have a hard time appreciating. My list though? It’ll be full of sweet, delicious, and delectable options for that person you actually love. lol

Let’s get started.

The parameters we’re using for this year’s Christmas gift list are:

1) A few $50ish bottle options

2) A $100 bottle option

3) A “dream” bottle option.

The dream bottle option won’t be something ridiculous like the Macallan M but something under a grand that is attainable with a good bit of saving. ($20 a week is a smidge over $1000 so it’s definitely a gift you’d be better off planning for)

50s

Auchentoshan 12 Classic ($36)

Maybe your giftee is a big fan of smooth irish whiskeys. If they’re looking to make a transition from smooth to flavorful, the Auchentoshan Classic is a great segue. It’s triple distilled like many irish whiskeys but still as flavorful as any Scotch in this price range. A great beginner scotch also for the new-to-scotch friends in your life.

Glenfiddich 12 ($42)

I cannot emphasize enough how beginner friendly this liquid is. Full of tree fruits, it’s hard to put this dram down. I think this is the second year I’ve recommended this scotch and it’s definitely one that makes a great gift. It’s my go to gifting bottle for friends who are new to scotch drinking.

Dalwhinnie 15 ($57)

Apples. Banana. Pears. Need I say more? The Dalwhinnie 15 (which is NOTHING like the smokey distiller’s reserve) is very excellent. 🙂

The “Hundo” 🙂

Glenlivet Naddura ($90)

This bottle is pretty new to the Glenlivet line but tastes fantastic. This is for your scotch drinker who’s tasted a dozen or two scotches and has a good idea of the flavor profile that they like. It’s high ABV at cask strength is something to be aware of. Buying this bottle is almost like buying two bottles for the drinker that adds water to find flavor. In terms of flavors, it’s oaken spices meets sugar and butter creme all over a mashed pear drizzled in cinnamon and pepper!

Can I do two dream bottle options??

Glenfiddich Age of Discovery 19
($170)

This bottle quickly became my nightly sipper. It’s tannic grapes meets soft red apples meets cane sugar and sweet corn cereal. You can’t go wrong with this amazing offering from Glenfiddich.

and the

Kirkland Alexander Murray and Co bottled The Glenlivet 40
($700 regularly, on sale in DC for $600 right now)

This is the smoothest and almost the most affordable 40 year scotch out there. Oak, cherries, creme, granulated sugar, a touch of pepper, cantaloupe, and just a touch of smoke. WOW oh WOW oh WOW.

What didn’t make my list and why…

Macallan Rare Cask ($300)

This would definitely make the dream bottle list but we haven’t done a formal review on it so it will have to wait until next year at the soonest.

Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie ($66)

This actually replaced my Glenfiddich 19 as my nightly sipper after I purchased it. It’s an amazingly balanced scotch. I’m not even a fan of peat but level of peat and smoke in this tasty morsel mixed with actual fruit flavors equals an AMAZING daily dram.

As always, enjoy responsibly with friends!

Slainte mhath!

–Sniff

Scotch ‘n’ Sniff at the The Balvenie Rare Craft Collection

Posted on October 24, 2014 by Scotch N Sniff

Greetings and Salutations!!!

Sniff, here. Totally been slacking in reviews due to a myriad of factors but I’ll be writing today’s recap of the Balvenie Rare Craft Collection (RCC).

First thing’s first. A lot of people really get caught up in things like how to dress at events like this. Scotch went dressed in a button up with nice jeans and shoes. I went dressed in a zippered hooded sweat shirt, jeans, and slip on Vans shoes. Like this blog, we’re doing all of this for the common man, not the guy who shows up in a three piece suit. Alright, pretensions out of the way…

The DC event took place at the Carnegie Institution of Science in DC at 1530 P Street NW. When you arrived downstairs, you were greeted by a few ladies to verify your tickets (free to folks to RSVP to Balvenie’s “loyalty program” dubbed Warehouse 24). Once your tickets were verified, this smiling lady gave you a booklet explaining the Rare Craft event, three sample drink tokens, and a custom RCC Glencairn glass.

BalvenieRCC entrance — Smile for Scotch!

Upon walking up the steps, the first thing you notice is this door… which will look familiar if you’re a member of the Warehouse 24 program.

Balvenie’s goal for the night was to draw awareness to craftsmen who still practiced traditional methods of work be it to build guitars, saddles, engines, and even ping pong tables and associate that with their own method of crafting single malt scotch.

A hand crafted Morgan :) — A hand crafted Morgan 🙂

So that’s all good and well. Let’s get onto the SCOTCH. In the main area, there were two tables providing samples. The Doublewood 12 was being served at one and on the other end of the room, the Caribbean Cask 14 on the other.

Ah, the caribbean. Didn't we already do a review on you? — Ah, the caribbean. Didn’t we already do a review on you?

Neither of these is what I was personally looking for (since we have both and have done reviews on both). I was looking for the Portwood 21. After asking a rep, I was informed that one had to sign up for the “Master class” to get access to it. The rep then pointed me in the direction of a young lady with an iPad who could sign both Scotch and Sniff up for the class. BINGO!

Let's take the Master Class! — Let’s take the Master Class!

David Laird, brand ambassador for Balvenie US

The class was taught by David Laird, a Balvenie US brand ambassador. Nice guy and very knowledgeable about scotch in general and the process used at the Balvenie distillery. From “Whiskey Dogs” to coopers to wood choice, he left no part of the process unturned. 95% of what we taught, we have available in blog posts here so it’s nice to know we weren’t far off of the general knowledge in the scotch world. 🙂

Overall the event was fun and educational. Scotchucational. 🙂

Thanks to Balvenie for hosting this good time! It looks like William Grant and Sons will be hosting another via Glenlivet in November, also in DC… will we see you there??

-Sniff

#BalvenieRCC

The Glenlivet Nadurra

Posted on September 10, 2014September 10, 2014 by Scotch N Sniff

The Glenlivet Nadurra
(54.7% cask strength)

COLOR: light greenish gold
NOSE: charred oaken spices, pear, crisp fruit sugars
PALATE: Whooooaaaaaaa. Gonna need some water. The alcohol is burning through brutish spices that muscle their way to the top of a pile of apples and pears. A sweet creamy almost marshmallowy explosion of tamed fruit sugars hide just below the spicy surface. This is going to need some water. The finish is a peppery bombardment of the tongue ripe with oak and more pear/apple mix.

ADD WATER

NOSE: shifts to sugary spices, I was hoping it would get sweeter but it didn’t really
PALATE: buttery creamy on the tongue but the sweetness has been subdued, a bit of smoke rises behind the spices now
FINISH: a mashed pear drizzled in cinnamon and pepper shows up in the finish, it needs desperately to be baked.

This is a killer dram. Great job Glenlivet!

The Glenlivet 18

Posted on August 4, 2014August 5, 2014 by Scotch N Sniff

Glenlivet 18

COLOR: orange gold
NOSE: sweet oak, cinnamon sugar, hints of common fruits, the cinnamon sugar owns the front of this nose
PALATE: initially very smooth, smells like it will be twice as spicy as it actually is, just a twinge of oakiness,
FINISH: light apples, more fruits, fantastic finish, something…. Spices, I can’t identify which ones but very pleasant like baking spices

ADD WATER

NOSE: more of the same but a smidge softer, more sugary
PALATE: what little bite the smidge of alcohol had is gone
FINISH: same flavored finished
Very pleasant 🙂

With our recent reviews on the Glenlivet 40 and our upcoming review of the Glenlivet 21 archive, we’re really trying our best to make comparisons of bottle that originate from the same distillery and how they might share some common tasting notes and themes among them. We’ll also be implementing our “Sweet to Peat” meter soon to help beginning tasters to really get an idea of what scotches are more appropriate for gifts and developing the palate. 🙂

-Sniff

The Glenlivet 21 Archive

Posted on July 28, 2014July 28, 2014 by Scotch N Sniff

The Glenlivet 21 Archive

COLOR: Brown toast

NOSE: At first nosing it has characteristics from the 40 but drowning over powered by spices. It has sweet fruit overtones. The spices from the oak shine through but the oak itself isn’t crazy. Tangerine.

PALATE: VERY smooth, more tangerines, dang nice, soft, velvety,

FINISH: All the spice from the nose come barreling forward for a light finish. Citrusy hints. Pleasant, nothing too crazy.

The poor man’s 40 (that’s still expensive lol)

ADD WATER
NOSE: the spices have muted a bit

PALATE: wow, sour fruit rises to the occasion with tons the spices front and center

FINISH: it’s all business with water. Oak. Spices.Overall it’s a fantastic scotch that does a great job of being the affordable version ($170) of the 40 year ($1400/$700 costco bottled). It’s priced to be much more of a gift than a daily sipper. Still, I wouldn’t kick it out of my booze cabinet.-Sniff