This bottle was labelled #3031 from Batch 0887 and bottled at 45.2% ABV. The nose was very nice, herbal tea with mint and sweet vanilla notes. The mouthfeel is fresh, light and oily, bittersweet on palate with more vanilla, candy, black coffee and dark chocolate. The finish has peppermint, wood and grassy rye notes. With water it gets sweeter, even honeyed, while heat builds in the finish with chilli spiced dark chocolate. Overall very delicious; a light and subtle of straight rye.
Read MoreOK , well here's another. Kilchoman also has a great cafe on site which is worth a visit in its own right.
I accept no-one is coming here because of their love of the Glenturret single malts. They simply don't capture anyone's imagination or fire passions in the way Laphroig, Ardbeg, Macallan, Glenlivet and others can do. This is the home of a whisky themed tourist attraction, The Famous Grouse Experience, based on the fact that Glenturret is one of the malts used in that blended scotch. It also claims to be the oldest distillery in Scotland but that honor is claimed by several others.
It is a fine little distillery with well run tours that end with an interactive (and very expensive looking) video component at the end (which didn't work the first time we were there) and a nice and very well stocked whisky bar, a restaurant and an expansive Famous Grouse shop. They also have a statue of their famous cat, Towser, who held the Guinness World Record for mouse killing.
The tasting at the end of the standard tour includes a choice between the Famous Grouse blend or Glenturret 10 year old, and in the bar they sell a flight of three single malt samples that are components of the Famous Grouse... The Macallan, Highland Park and of course Glenturret. In addition they do a Warehouse #9 tour, which ends in the aforementioned warehouse tasting room and involves sampling all of the Famous Grouse blended malts from 10 year old to the 30 year old. If you are doing this one, bring a designated driver.
This was one of five whiskies that we tried at a tasting led by Ian Buxton in May 2011 in Aberdeen. Of the five this was not the most expensive or unusual whisky we tried that day, but for me it was the the most surprising and enjoyable, probably because I had some preconceptions regarding the Isle of Jura distillery as producing "middle of the road" malts for blending. I did not take detailed tasting notes that day, but this is definately a whisky I will be going back to try again and I will post tasting notes then. Rich, complex and smokey, not unlike Highland Park, this was a great example of why you should try all whiskies and not assume anything. The only downside was the pang of regret I felt because we did not visit Jura when we went to Islay in 2010.
Update: As promised here are some more detailed tasting notes. The nose is rich and inviting with smoke, pears and seaweed. The taste is very nice, smooth, smoky but balanced with some caramel. Fades to a nice oaky, sweet finish and a little more caramel at the end. This is an excellent every day dram and has the smokiness of an Islay combined with some of the richness of a speyside.
Another one of the whiskies we tasted at Ian Buxton's tasting in Aberdeen, May 2011. I also tried this at WhiskyLive London in 2011. At both events it was one of my favorites. The nose is honey sweet, biscuits, some fresh flowers, vanilla and even the fresh paint note I sometimes get in bourbons. Great nose. The taste has more vanilla, nutty even, lemon peel and the finish is sweet with lots of oaky spice notes. So far I haven't met a Compass Box product I didn't like...