A happy customer said:
80
Color - Goldish
Nose - Fairly lively delivery of tutti-frutti, honey/vanilla and slight oak. Clean and delicate.
Body - Smooth, dry.
Palate - Dry oak, eau de vie de vin, and some sweeter notes. Straight forward with a good amount of bite.
Finish - Above average length. Mostly the dryness sticks though.
Probably the most mature and the most complete of the McClelland's series
On the other hand:
55
Color - Deep, rich gold
Worst of the McClellend's collection. It's too sickly sweet.
The above from "for peat's sake":
http://www.forpeatsake.com/McClellands/McClellands+Speyside/1
In my (ontheporchinmyrocker) own opinion:
Not much of a sniff, so 1st sip: a little creamy on the lips and sweetish but definitely a burn going down, cough, cough. 2nd and 3rd sips: taste elusive. A splash of water: definitely sweet but like an alcoholic medium dry sherry, not a scotch. Over ice: definitely sweet but not much in the way of flavor. Need to try soda before really grieving over a 1.75 l bottle to get rid of. Hmmm… take it to HH for Rick when he comes. time to make a root cellar to store the good stuff. Arrg!
So, I win the first comment award this week it seems, which gets me a nice 60ml glass of whisky. Of course, that what all commenters get, so being first isn't saying much...
ReplyDeleteA very pale, citrine yellow color doesn't inspire much confidence in the taste to come. Alas, it lives up to it's color. The only thing noticable about this one, in my opinion, is that the burn does linger in the mouth a bit longer than normal, somewhat akin to the cask-strength Abelour, but without the depth of flavor.
Ah well, sometimes it is as good to know what not to drink, as it is what to drink. This one sits firmly in the former category in my book, not because it is bad per se, just not much of anything.
Color: Golden
ReplyDeleteLegs: strong
Nose: Slightly peaty with some slight hint of fruity sweetness
Taste: A taste of peat with a buttery/syrupy taste near the end, definitely sweeter than the Islay.
Finish: Kind of medium, warmth stays a little longer than the actual taste
After cleaning up the woodshop so that dad can putter around while I am travelling, tasting whisky is certainly a welcome distraction from walnut, oak and Bradford pear dust. This week’s offering is not a particularly exciting exhibit of the art (despite the really cool piece of treen in the picture). As with the Islay from this distributer, it is kind of nice and safe, probably an OK whisky for the novice. While I am no expert by far, this kind of pales to some of our other offerings. A drop of water brings out a little vanilla in the flavor, and seems to make it even sweeter. I might enjoy the trade off, but I doubt many others would. Again, the key issue here is the price point. If you want an idea of what a Speyside could be, this is safe place to start.
I get to bat clean up... sometimes you like to have a whisky you can drink and not pay attention to. this be one. as you can tell from its elegant jug status its as easy on the wallet, relatively speaking, as it is on the pallet. But yes, if you are looking to impress look elsewhere. if you are looking for a whisky you can put ice in and not feel guilty, look no further.
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