Over the bar: What’s new in January

This is a list of new whiskies selected, tasted and released weekly by our passionate team. We put around 10 whiskies on the bar each week, so our menu is forever changing and evolving and includes a broad selection of new, vintage and independently bottled whiskies.

Here we bring you our tasting notes, and we hope they’ll inspire you to explore the world of whisky further, and give you some great ideas about what to look for the next time you visit the bar.

 

1. Royal Brackla 16 year old 46% Highlands ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Orange oil and baked song cake. Hey, barley sugar sweets, baked pumpkin. Fibrous on the palate, banana skins change to malt cereal and driftwood. White flowers and shortbread. Hard orange cheese and blotting paper.

2. Glenallachie 12 year old 40% Speyside –
Tasting Notes: Grape Hubba Bubba and purple fruits. Dried apricots, supermarket honey. Pink peppercorns on the finish.

3. Edradour 10 year old Chardonnay Cask 46% Highlands ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Meaty, hoisin sauce and zippy lemon. Macadamias, lemon cream and foam bananas. Layers of tartness on the back palate finish with a hit of rancio.

4. Glenturret 12 year old Sherry Puncheon cask by Old Particular 48.4% Highlands ★★★★ –
Tasting Notes: Nose of an old library, fur jackets, pink apples and dried strawberries. Dates and cheap cola. Celery, Curly Wurly, apple and cinnamon finish.

5. SMWS 5.67 “Bellissimo!” 15 year old 55.3% Lowlands ★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Raspberry Weiss ice-cream, pink marshmallows, milk foam and cloud lollies. Cough medicine, dry pepper and coconut finishing with aromatic bitters.

6. Glen Moray 8 year old peated PX cask distillery release 55.8% Speyside ★★★★★ –
Tasting Notes: Maple syrup coated bacon, paprika and plum sauce with duck. Crispy barramundi skin, damper and a thick slice of Domino’s smoky BBQ pizza! Finishes with chipotle.

7. Port Charlotte 10 year old 2018 release 50% Islay ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Green olives, brine and popcorn. Syrupy on the palate with flavours of corn flakes in fresh milk, chargrilled capsicum and salty butter.

8. Ardmore 10 year old ex Laphroaig cask ‘Hand in Hand’ by Sansibar for Whisky & Alement 56.1% Islay ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Green moss, roasted peanuts and burnt iced coffee. Burnt capsicum, chilli and ripe banana skins.

9. Caol Ila 8 year old bourbon hogshead Equus 58.8% Islay ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Orange jubes, kelp and white sugar. Lime sponge, Talcum powder, salty satay sauce and neoprene on the finish.

10. Laphroaig 7 year old ‘Hand in Hand’ by Sansibar for Whisky & Alement 53.7% Islay ★★★★ –
Tasting Notes: Betadine, forest floor after rain and burnt greenwood. Asparagus, barnyard and cheese biscuits.

11. SMWS 29.254 A match made in heaven 60.3% Islay ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Floral lemon and teacakes topped with canned whipped cream. Lemon zest, wet mossy rock and cow udder. Pleasant hints of sandalwood and black tea finishes with fresh earth.

12. Bombergers Kentucky Straight Bourbon Batch #L18C316 by Richter’s (MGP) 54% Kentucky ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Fresh dill, sarsaparilla, vanilla root beer and Huon pine. Iced vovos and vanilla cola, Haribo cherry, cajun spices and cherry ripe.

*On pour at Whisky & Alement from Wed 9 Jan 2019

 

13. Cragganmore Distillery Exclusive 2018 48% Speyside ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Clean and floral. Pineapple, banana custard, orange blossom and perfume. Creamy rainbow Paddle Pops. Bottled at the perfect ABV.

14. Loch Lomond 10 year old single malt finished in a Ventisquero Grey Chardonnay wine cask for De Monnik Dranken 100th Anniversary 2007 Cask No. 18/189-1 51.5% Highlands ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Fruit pastilles, passionfruit pulp and toffee apple straps. Cucumber sandwiches, petrichor and peach flesh.

15. Jura 1992 refill hogshead single cask Ref.HL12459 The First Editions 48.6% Isle of Jura ★★★★ –
Tasting Notes: A nose of new Converse kicks, pine, latex gloves and hints of green apples. Pork and chive dumplings, oyster sauce and chalky protein bar.

16. The Nikka 12 year old Premium blended whisky 43% ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Caramel, frangipan, malt and a puff of peat. Mochi red bean paste and raspberries develop into a finish of white chocolate, and honey soy. A hint of sherry cask maturation style of the 1990’s.

17. Archive Release: SMWS 35.144 Punch with a punch 24 year old 2nd fill ex-bourbon hogshead 50.7% Speyside ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Grape Zappo lollies, lime marmalade and Splice ice-creams. Apricot, Italian tart crust, Greengage plums and dark purple fruits. Clean and lip-smacking!

18. The Balvenie 14 year old Peated Triple Cask 48.3% Speyside ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Dusty old boots, pepper steak, Capocollo salami and spent gun powder. Finishes with mango, pineapple and  tropical fruits.

19. Ledaig 2004 by Gordon and MacPhail Connoisseurs Choice bottled 2017 46% Isle of Mull ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: A subtle nose with zingy orange and barbecue lemon. A silky mouthfeel delivers hot sand at the beach, mineral, roasted marshmallow, lemon sorbet and spent ground coffee beans. Could almost benefit from a higher ABV.

20. Ledaig 18 year old 1998 by Wilson & Morgan Sherry wood bottled 2016 Butt #800032 62.7% Isle of Mull ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Boot polish and coal tar soap hit the nose first. MacDonald’s cheese burger patties, damp rope and driftwood. Iron filings and soluble panadol or aspirin.

21. Archive Release: SMWS 29.202 Smoking Cherry Bomb 17 year old refill ex-bourbon barrel 58.4% Islay ★★★★★ –
Tasting Notes: Love heart candies, fruity and smoked meat bark. Strawberry milkshake, mandarin, fairy bread and soft clean pork fat. Very fruity and with an almost unrecognisable distillery character… until the very finish.

*On pour at Whisky & Alement from Wed 16 January 2019.

 

22. Grand Old Parr bottled pre-1965 abv unknown Scotland ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Coffee eclairs, salted caramel, pears and oats. Fresh saw dust, spiced custard, a hint of graphite and peat on the finish.

23. Hellyers Road 15 year old 46.2% Tasmania ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Lemon balm, cinnamon toast, vegetal, floral, dry grass. Damp old oak, orgeat, pecan pie with a finish of fresh green foliage, peach and toffee.

24. Old Pulteney 17 year old 46% Highlands★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Lime jelly, spiced mead and pistachio ice-cream on the nose. Flaky pastry, lemon, seaside salt and guitar cases.

25. Longmorn 15 year old Distillery Label 2018 release by Gordon and MacPhail 43% Speyside ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Honeycomb, creamy palate of stone fruit and buttery pastry lead to a short finish. Banana chips, butterscotch, garden chervil, lemon and saffron.

26. Ben Nevis 20 year old by Liquid Treasures Snakes label 52.1% Highlands ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: White jellybeans and cheap lemonade on the nose. Imperial leather, peppermint, overall a meaty, salty palate. Borek! Pineapple and grapefruit side .. or is that sweet grape soda?

27. Ledaig 9 year old Signatory Cask Strength bottled 2015 1st fill sherry butt 52.1% Isle of Mull ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Salted roasted brazil nuts, oysters kilpatrick, roast dinner and barbecue sauce! Hot leather and sticky brisket. Filthy and sooty with an afterthought of Burger Rings!

28. Caol Ila 34 year old by Cadenhead 57.6% Islay ★★★★★ –
Tasting Notes: Raspberry coulis, dried apricots, apricot brandy and smoked fig. Bright orange sherbet, fruit chocolates and moss.

29. Four Roses Single Barrel 50% Kentucky ★★★★ –
Tasting Notes: Old nanna pink soap, fabric softener, gingerbread men, baby powder and marshmallow. Strawberry milkshakes, foam bananas and Bounty chocolate bars.

30. Wild Turkey Rare Breed 58% Kentucky ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Walnuts, poppy seeds, spices and clove on the nose. Mascarpone, sour cherry cola, ginger, sarsaparilla and lime liqueur on the palate finishes with liquorice all sorts and more clove.

31. Bookers Bourbon 6 years 3 months 63.7% Kentucky ★★★★ –
Tasting Notes: Maraschine, rose water and cinnamon on the nose. Oat cakes, cinnamon, neoprene, Playdough, glace cherries and fondant finishing with tinned lychees.

32. Stagg Jr. Kentucky Straight Bourbon Barrel Proof 65% Kentucky ★★★★★ –
Tasting Notes: A nose of cherry cola, sarsaparilla, root beer and parmesan sweat. Black sour cherry, maraschino, apricots, raspberry, fruit tea tannin, lime marmalade, pomegranate molasses, lamb and blackberry jam. Fantastic!

*On pour at Whisky & Alement from Wed 23 January 2019. Tasting notes live from Thu 24 January 2019.

 

33. Bainbridge Battle Point Wheat Whiskey 43% Washington State ★★★★ –
Tasting Notes: Soft and sweet, dry oaky spice, Play-Doh and frying butter. Sour cherries, white flowers, cardamon cloves and sarsaparilla.

34. Blanton’s Gold Single Barrel bottled 2006 51.5% Kentucky ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Grape soda, purple slushy and maraschino cherries. Orange and potpourri, cedar and new pencil cases.

35. Bladnoch 10 year old Celebrating 200 years 46.7% Lowlands ★★★★ –
Tasting Notes: Milky pasta, malt spice and grapefruit. Wet hay, raspberry sherbet and green grass.

36. Glen Moray 15 year old 40% Speyside ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Green apples, jasmine, cookie dough and coconut sweetness. A clean whisky, rum and raisin ice-cream, grape soda and lemon sorbet.

37. Del Bac Classic single malt private barrel release #440 unsmoked 59.35% Arizona ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Gunpowder, cherry jam, sticky szechuan sauce. Raspberry concentrate, red frogs and maple syrup.

38. Killara KD02 Port Cask single cask single malt 50% Tasmania ★★★★ –
Tasting Notes: Cocao and dark chocolate ovaltine. Meat pies, honey dew melons on the nose.

39. Cley Malt and Rye Whisky 58% Netherlands ★★★–
Tasting Notes: Carob chocolate, chocolate wafers and barrel aged pickle juice finishes in pencil shavings.

40. SMWS 115.8 A strawberry chocolate kiss, 8yr, Refill Barrel Ex-Bourbon 59.9% Speyside ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Barley, sugar and Yorkshire pudding. Tangy, sour coke bottles, creamy guava. Responds well to a touch of water.

41. SMWS 1.207 Powerful and warming delight, 13yr, 1st Fill Hogshead Ex Oloroso Cask 57.8% Speyside ★★★★ –
Tasting Notes: Berry compote, caramelised burnt sugars and french toast with cinnamon sugar. Honey soy cashews and sesame snaps.

42. SMWS 12.14 A deconstructed salad, 8yr, 1st Fill Barrel Ex-Bourbon 61.4% Speyside ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Pencil shavings, vinyl pencil cases and honey dew melons. Sakura mocha, pine box, mint ice-cream and coconut rough!

43. SMWS 96.22 Rocky road spice freakout, 9yr, 1st Fill Hogshead Ex-PX 59.1% Speyside ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Jammy dodgers, mineralogy, charcoal hints, fig jam and newspaper ink. Salted caramel and butterscotch.

44. SMWS 93.95 Tails of the sea, 15yr, Refill Barrel Ex-Bourbon 56.6% Campbeltown ★★★★★ –
Tasting Notes: Wool shed, drift wood and lanolin. Tarry ropes, burnt lemons, ceviche, flint and limestone cliffs.

45. SMWS A5.1 (Armagnac) Fruit shop raid, 1999, Gascon black oak 61.3% Bas Armagnac ★★★★★ –
Tasting Notes: Cardamon, balsamic vinegar, Moroccan spice and fruits, frankincense, sun dried apricots/peaches and port jelly.

46. SMWS 137.2 War seahorse, 8yr, Refill Barrel Ex-Bourbon 62.3% England ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Petrachor, soft peat on the nose, smoked ham sandwich, yuzu and lemon zest on the nose. The palate delivers Moreton Bay bugs on the barbie.

47. SMWS 66.125 Scattering the ashes, 12yr, Refill Hogshead Ex-Bourbon 57.9% Highland ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Malt milkshakes, vanilla ice-cream, dusty lemons and lanolin. The palate begins with soft sweet wet earth and the peat slowly wafts in followed by green leaves, mocha and ironbark honey.

48. SMWS 29.525 Nastolgislay, 19yr, Refill Hogshead Ex-Bourbon 60% Islay ★★★★☆ –
Tasting Notes: Betadine, first aid kit, orange zest, sage, dry and tart cranberry sauce, hot metal singed timber and mandarin.

*On pour at Whisky & Alement from Wed 30 January 2019.