Friendships and Impulse Purchases (Part 3)

Time to round up this series of posts. Hedonism was bought at the airport, so not really an impulse buy by DW. The Yoichi, yes. It was probably overpriced (I think I paid $20 or $25) for 50ml, but I wanted to try it. And I did. Kikori...well. DW had this bright idea to try something different, and whiskey from rice somehow sounded like a good idea.

The Kilchoman reviewed here was a bit of an impulse buy too. After getting the Sanaig from LMdW, DW went online to buy a couple more Kilchomans, so impressed was he by the distillery.

Braeval was a bottle as part payment for photography services rendered by JE to me. Buying a bottle was not on impulse, but the specific bottle was - I just couldn't resist buying a bottle with an aeroplane (a Spitfire!!) on it, with proceeds going to charity. Too good to pass up on!

Kilchoman 10th Anniversary Release (58.2% abv)

Colour - Gold

Nose - Peaty and ashier than the other Kilchoman's from the regular bottlings. This smells closer to Ardbeg. The ash is pretty heavy and dark. Or at least, I found the ash heavier - several reviewers found the ash lighter than usual. Odd. Slightly salty, and the fruits take some time to emerge. But when they do, there's smoked apples, smoked pears, smoked oranges...

Palate - Light bitters...mm. From burnt sugar. There's some over-ripe fruit. I said mangoes, and JE said peach. Basically, an over-ripe mushy fruit. Peat is more subtle on the palate, but still presents itself in its ashy form. Fairly spicy too, which is ramped up even more by the high alcoholic strength. Nutmeg, and a touch of pepper, I believe. A wee bit of oak.

Finish - Ash and spice. There's some lingering over-ripe fruit - lush and sweet, almost like honey. But I think the sweetness retreats first, to leave the ash and spice as the dominant notes on the finish.

Overall - Good stuff. If you can find it. I think DW paid more for this than when it was first released. Kilchoman is consistently great. Amazing. How do you do that? This was released as part of the 10th Anniversary, and we are still waiting for a regular old bottling from Kilchoman.

Braeval 12, Douglas Laing's Clan Denny series, for the RAF Benevolent Fund (46.8% abv)

Look look! It's a plane!

Colour - White wine

Nose - Quite alcoholic on first nosing, but gives way to a leathery, sulphury note, and austere fruit - barely ripe apples and maybe a green banana.

Palate - Fairly sweet on entry. Maltiness, and I think the apple and banana was maybe a little riper than I gave it credit for. There's always an underlying note of sulphur (or camphor as advertised by Douglas Laing). Minerality - a touch of maybe tar and iron. Or did that come from the Spitfire?

Finish - Malty and rather drying, with lingering sulphur notes.

Overall - Straightforward, distillate driven malt. Doesn't quite take flight, but it serves very well as an "average" whisky that is not too tempered with by fancy wood. Just a good, old fashioned (probably refill) sherry cask, and whisky.

Friendships and Impulse Purchases (part 2)

Hedonism (43% abv)

Ok, this was not an impulse purchase. Just something DW got from the Airport DFS. Based on my recommendation, I think? In any case, this blended grain from Compass Box has been something I've been wanting to try. I've not had a good impression of grain whisky, but it seems like grain whisky is getting more attention recently, and is more complex than many people (myself included) have given them credit for. Perhaps it's my bias against bourbon spilling over.

That makes Hedonism a good place to start fighting back against baseless bias: I don't trust grain whisky (yet), but I trust Compass Box. So, we're starting on fairly neutral ground here.


Colour - Gold, but this is achieved without artificial colouring or chill filtering. Just the grain and the barrel. Grain and barrel. That's a good name for a whisk(e)y review website!

Nose - Sweet butterscotch mother of toffee! Lots of vanilla and honey. Rich, velvety butterscotch. Some toffee. A touch of oaky goodness. Spicy even on the nose. After a while, the nosing develops to become rounder, and less sweet; that's good because it was approaching dangerously close to "cloying" territory initially. This smells like kueh lapis. For those who're not from Malaysia/Singapore/Indonesia, this is kueh lapis:

Layer upon layer of buttery, oily, cakey goodness. The really good ones, you can peel off layer by layer. Or, take a bite across the layers and feel them separate into thin strips in your mouth, before disintegrating into a buttery, gooey mash. Brilliant. And high in calories. But yes, Hedonism smells like that. Preferably with black tea.

Palate - Smooth. Vanilla, a touch of coconut, honey, butter, toffee. Maybe a few drops of maple syrup. No, I don't mean the one they give at Macdonald's when you order pancakes. Actual maple syrup. And honey. Thankfully, that'll be spiced honey - cinnamon, nutmeg, and something a little more prickly. A basket of fruits too - ripe apples, maybe a banana and pink guava. There's also a good oak structure to the whisky - wood in the background helps to hold the strong flavours of this whisky together, and gives it a slight tannic feel too. It's a little drying due to the tannic feel, and that helps to prevent this blended grain from become overpoweringly sweet.

Finish - Medium length. Coconut and oak are a little more prominent here, and a slight bitterness, like tea. So that makes this dram kueh lapis and tea in the same sip? That's a perfect tea-time snack!

Overall - Good stuff! If grain whisky was this good, I'll have no problems with trying more. Hedonism manages to achieve great balance and depth, at an affordable price point. Go Compass Box! 

I know that in Part 1, I said that the tasting notes will be brief, but I took many mental notes of this - I had really wanted to try it.

So, this is part 2. Part 3 will cover the Braeval and Kilchoman! These will be brief. Promise.

Friendship and Impulse Purchases (part 1)

A random bunch of whiskies that tell a story of friendship and impulse purchases. Mostly impulse purchases.

I didn't take detailed notes because this was a gathering of friends, not one of those sessions where I geek out and write more than I talk. So this post is going to be more of quick impressions than anything.

Let's start with the odd one out, shall we?

Kikori Whiskey (41% abv)

Colour - Paler than white wine

Nose - This is sake. Or shochu. Yea, shochu.

Palate - Barrel aged shochu. So, sweet rice wine with a touch of oak and spice. Classic yeasty notes, found in shochu and lower grades of sake.

Finish - This is shochu. Sweet and light finish, slight yeasty sourness.

Overall - This is not whisky, and should not be approached with whisky expectations. It's also got a long Japanese text written on the underside of the label (you can see a little bit of it in the picture). Maybe it's an apology for misleading marketing.

Might as stick with the Japanese theme...

Yoichi NAS (45% abv)

Colour - Hay/Straw

Nose - Light peat and smoke, fairly alcoholic. After calming down, it's got notes of malt, sea spray, and then some fruits. Mm. Apple and pear?

Palate - Spicy and light smoke. Nutmeg, cinnamon. Some vanilla and...savoury oiliness too. But fairly rough on alcohol. Maltiness and a hint of sourdough. Hmm. Maybe it's because it's a sampler bottle? Needs more time? Water perhaps?

Finish - A little sour, a little smoke. Oak too, and a bit more vanilla.

Overall - Simple, straightforward. This is more "manly" than several other Japanese whiskies. A little rougher and smokier. This could mature to become like a Springbank or Kilkerran. I think the basics of the taste profile are there. Or maybe, to aim a little lower, like a Benromach or Bruichladdich. Could. In the current price market, I'll never know what an aged Yoichi would taste like.

Ok, off to catch some football. The rest will have to wait.