We got a sample of this actually sent to us, albeit on the coat tails of something called ‘Hot Dickel’ which was a whiskey aged in Tabasco barrels. However as we told the company that reached out to us – that was a bridge too far for us, and since they sent it any way we’ll merely remark that whatever you are thinking George Dickel aged in hot sauce barrels tastes like – it’s not that, and much more mediocre.
We here have been long time fans of the Grand Macnish 12 year for being all the scotch your well decanter ever needs, at a price that’s competitive. It lets you feel good about buying some new single malt because it’s always there for you if it ends up being something like Jura. This is a new edition (much like the 15yr sherry) that’s aged in charred casks – and proves that maybe you should just leave things well alone.
We almost considered not doing this as a traditional whiskey due to the coffee’s effect. However aside from their clear spirit, this is their main aged bourbon, and their choice of a barrel (much like a sherry cask) will simply be an artifact of our review against them. That review sadly is poor.
This is normally the bit where we talk about how this relates to the regular version and what the distillery specific breed brings to the table. (But we’ve not actually done that yet – our bad). In fact, the only thing we’ve done that’s dealt with Caol Ila on this site is its inclusion into Johnnie Walker Green (which is defunct). But that’s okay.
So we’ve always been a bit apprehensive of the Fiddich, namely because while they deserve the store presence they often get and are by no measure have made a bad whiskey, they’ve always been – just slightly above average. It seems though just a few extra years of aging allows it to set itself apart though.
Once again a victory scotch from the duty-free store graces our doors. (It’s a victory because getting back home at 1 am after 14 hours of travel needs a drink). We have a special ‘town & year’ version of Glen Scotia, and sadly we don’t have a baseline with their malt to compare against as what we find here was less of a victory, and more of a loss at the end of a long day.
The most notable thing here on the surface is actually an omission – the word Suntory. Yes, it’s a Japanese whisky not from the monolithic giant that has buy-in over the states. The problem, however, is the notable omission that’s deeper than the surface – good tasting whiskey.
Made in a castle in a village that bears the whiskies name. Made with a unique process of ageing. Made with too many words talking about itself we have this – Slane Whiskey. A truly unique Irish Whiskey, in that it tastes not like a typical Irish whiskey but is also not really great.
We have a few sins one can commit on this site. First is the lack of frank discussion about spirits and their companies. The second is the usage of language meant to confuse people not familiar with spirits to make it seem like secret knowledge. With that in mind here’s a company from 2009 peddling as a prohibition whiskey that because New York has ‘terroir’ is a good whiskey. What a load of horseshit.
Not to be confused with the much rarer and much more expensive Mackinley’s special breed we have another contender in the whiskey space to the Shackleton name. This is sort of ‘inspired’ or in other words – stolen to sell. The look though is solid even if the product isn’t as solid.
