Macallan 12 Fine Oak

Macallan 12 Fine Oak

A review by Tommy Byrne

Overall rating: 8/10 (Single Malt notation)

Macallan is one of the most famous distilleries in the world.  It is predominantly known for its special maturation process involving sherry casks. Even if Macallan has an extensive fan base, they keep aiming at new markets with many new ranges of products.  Macallan 12 years old Fine Oak, is part of that new range of 8 whiskies called Fine Oak, where bourbon, American and European oak casks are vatted together. It could not find any information backing this, but I believe this wide range is aimed, in my own opinion, at a younger and less experimented crowd.    

Macallan 12 Fine Oak is a pale gold whisky that takes quite a while to open up. At first I couldn’t find anything really complex and interesting in the nose, aside for the obvious oak and cereals, but after 10 minutes, it started to develop delicate sweet hints of honey and vanilla. The palate is dry, but quite soft with the same features than its nose. Some toffee and older wood casks are revealing themselves after a while.  The finish a little bit short, but not unpleasant at all.

Unlike the traditional Macallan sherry cask whiskies, the Fine Oak range, or at least its 12 years olds expression, is putting a greater emphasis on American oak and bourbon casks.  There are very little spices in that whisky, it hard to find any components of its sherry casks.   I seriously doubt any malt heads to drink this whisky on a regular basis, I see it more a whisky to offer as a gift to a novice drinker.  Overall, it’s a good whisky to start the apéro, but it’s too weak to follow a meal and act as a digestive.

Glenfiddich 18 years old

Glenfiddich 18 years old

A review by Tommy Byrne

Overall rating: 8,8/10

Glenfiddich is the top selling single malt brand in the world. Even in remote areas of the globe, there is a good chance to find their start of the line green bottle. This means that it’s an industrial product, but also means it’s decently priced.  When so many single malts are overpriced these days, Glenfiddich stays an excellent value for money.  Having said so, today’s review is about the Glenfiddich 18 years, which is not so cheap.  Putting “ancient” after 18 years olds is a wee bit pompous, but I suppose the marketing department had its reasons.  

18 years in various casks, notably sherry casks in the end of the maturation process, gives a nice amber/copper colour to the final product. The nose is smooth and fresh with notes of pineapple, honey, vanilla, nutmeg and lemon zest.  It is also toasty and floral, nothing very complex, but very nice overall.  The palate is smooth, sweet and malty with notes of fruit cake, toffee and also vegetal with some cauliflower and celery. It has not an extravagant finish; it’s rather smooth and delicate.

I was very pleased with this whisky. Glenfiddich 18 may not have all the subtleties of the 15 years old Solera version, but it is a great product. What I like in general about this brand is the choice that it offers to the consumers.  Usually, every common liquor stores sells the 12, 15 and 18 years old versions and many speciality stores offers older bottles.  This gives single malts apprentices the chance to learn more about whisky maturation process in its many steps and always at a decent price.  I am pretty sure that there is no specific whisky drinker niche for the 18 years old bottle, but it is probably the safest choice for a very nice present to give to someone who likes whisky.  

Ardmore Traditional Cask

Ardmore Traditional Cask

A review by Tommy Byrne

Overall rating: 9/10 (Single Malt notation)

I have said it in the past and will say it again: Speyside malts are not my favourites.  Being a peat-head I often find Speysiders too light and too sharp for the standard 10-12 years old bottles.  Not being chill-filtered and with its 46% alcohol volume, Ardmore Traditional Cask is an outsider in the region, almost a Highlander and that’s why I am very fond of it.  With no age statement on the bottle, it is very similar to Laphroaig’s Quarter Cask finishing method.  Traditional cask means smaller cask for the last part of maturation process (see Laphroaig Quarter Cask review). 

With its nice gold colour, I highly doubt there is any e150 (caramel) added only for looks. The nose is intense. First, the peat and phenols kicks in with some spices.  Then, citruses appear with some notes of white grapefruit and green pineapple.  After adding a few drops of water, some sweetness emerges with chocolate notes in the end.  The palate is far dryer and bitter. Oak is omnipresent. Adding water will loosen its edges and more vegetal and cereal notes will appear.  The finish is medium-long.

This is a spectacular full body whisky leaving oily tears in the glass.  The bottle, label and packaging are also flawless, nothing flashy as we like it.  Ardmore Traditional Cask is a great alternative to Talisker in terms of character.  Being one of the biggest distilleries in Scotland, only a very small part of the production goes for crafting single malts, the vast majority of the production goes directly into the blend of Teacher’s Highland Cream, a great old school blend with a very high content of malt (around 40%, unlike the most blends at around 20-30%).