Macallan 2000 GM Speymalt, WB: 218063

Macallan 2000 GM Speymalt

This whisky has to face three difficulties before tasting:
The color indicative of a very wet cask, hence 'drowned whisky'; The brand that triggers PTSD in some whisky lovers; The price that causes stomach ache and a guilty conscience for at least two weeks.
Let's try to ignore all these factors.
that being said
Colour: Coca-Cola Zero.
Music: A. Ward - Ring My Bell, Series: Elementary. Mood: Friday evening 9 p.m., late October.
Wetting the Palate: https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/170509/aultmore-2008-mbl
Glasses: Tasting Glas Bhlas and Unity Sensis Plus from Eisch.
Nose: After 10 minutes with the lid on: Medjool dates, chestnut honey, Storck chocolate toffees
After 30-45 min: Bhlas develops dark preserved fruits, dark berries, overripe plums sprinkled with cocoa powder, raspberries pierce through. Plum compote with star anise, cinnamon and nutmeg.
In the Unity glass: a dough of overly sweet dates kneaded with Werther's Genuine Soft Caramel, left to stand in the sun for a long time, mixed with a few sultanas.
Nut flavors, bacon, pecan, walnut. Marzipan with chocolate icing.
5 drops of water (added very reluctantly): tingling freshness in the nose, cola fizzy tablets. rum raisins. Baked apple flavors with a nut crunch topping.
Taste: sticky sweet, sticks the tongue to the palate, 80-100% dark chocolate, 100% cocoa powder, occupies the entire mouth, unable to speak for several minutes. Words are annoying anyway, a feeling of having arrived in whisky heaven.
Second sip: Espresso Ristretto, with lots of Demerara raw cane sugar.
Third sip (1h passed now): Syrupy, very thick, Grade W maple syrup if you can get it, hints of umami, balsamic mixed with a couple of drops of soy sauce.
Fifth sip: strong black tea joins the flavors. Hint of mulled wine.

Macallan 2000 GM Speymalt

Pure mindfulness. taste yoga. Space and time dissolve.
Finish: Eternally long finish with sweet coffee, French press, over-roasted, dark, almost burnt beans. Melting Udzungwa 75% dark chocolate. Three drops of grapefruit juice. 2 grains of salt.
Water takes away some of the sweetness, flavors are weakened. Cold diluted espresso.
Mouthfeel and taste experience seem more intense with the Unity Sensis Plus.
According to Charles Maclean, the basic character is: rich, robust, oily, fruity.
JW: "Excellent!" SH: "Elementary."

96 / 100

Tamdhu Cigar Malt II, WB: 218398

Tamdhu Cigar Malt II

Whiskey in the Unity Sensis Plus from Eisch, but the Blhas glass fits better. Colour: mahogany. Mood: Long Covid, long before Covid. Series: The Witcher. Wetting the Palate: An unusual mixture of blended malt and cognac: https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/204301/macnairs-lum-reek, Grande Champagne Daniel Bouju 1984/2022 Cognac Batch 2 - 38 years - C .Dully Selection (CDuS). Chaos is the same as it's always been. Humans just adapted better.

What do you say to non-smokers? Do I have to spoil the lungs as well as the liver or does this malt contain magical powers, transforming you into an invulnerable Witcher. If I Have To Choose Between One Evil And Another, Then I Prefer Not To Choose At All. With due respect, some episodes have passed (2h)

Nose: unusual ride on a horse, Arabian. Rider falls into a vat of syrup, Canadians. Tingling in the nose, freshly opened package of dried apricots, marzipan, walnut and chestnut mousse with lots of cocoa. Sunday roast, umami. Freshly cooked couscous with raisins. Banana bread tossed in molasses; a paradise apple distracts...

Mouth (about 2h): Sherry, sparkling hot. Caffè Americano or rather lungo. Evil is evil...Lesser, greater, milling. It's all the same.

Finish: Disappointing, nothing special, coffee, accidental inhalation of cocoa powder, lovage, angelica archangelica, sage, rosemary.

After 3 hours:

Mouth: sticky mouth, macerated Grenache and Shiraz from the Barossa. Paxarette. Mouth-filling and covering à defies whatever smoke lingers in the throat. Grilled bananas with chocolate shavings, herbs flash subtly, Mediterranean.

Finish: Not exuberant, but long, a little witchy, cinnamon-pimento-muscat. Bit into a peppercorn and spat it out, sucked on a juniper berry, haven't decided what to do yet... raw Jerusalem artichoke.

Mouth: Failed brussel sprouts stew in asparagus water...

Tamdhu Cigar Malt II

Water? Unnecessary, anyway 3 drops and almost a complete season with many smacking noises later:

Nose: Fine, delicate, fleeting sherry aromas. Raspberry Strawberry Jam.

Mouth: dark fruit jam with a dash of grappa and some spiciness of turmeric and nutmeg, accompanied by eucalyptus, refreshes the mouth. Rosemary sage tea flashes.

Finish: Spicy fresh herbal brew, becoming drier, not short. Impressions remain for a long time overnight. "You can't outrun destiny just because you're terrified of it."

Toss a lot more coins to this one…

89 / 100

Tormore 1993 GM Connoisseurs Choice - Cask Strength, WB: 217130

Tormore 1993 GM

Whisky in a Zwiesel glass COGNAC ENOTECA 17. Color: mahogany. Mood: done - after a very tough week. Series: Andor.
Today 'Solo' without wetting the palate. Patience you must have my young Padawan.
Nose: during and after 60 min: Aloha sulfur is strong in that one. About three hours after New Year's Eve, used matches used about 30 cm away. One gets used to it. A last China firecracker in the nose, went up discreetly. AtouchofListerineTotalcare6(purple). The aroma remains on the dark side of the fruit. Preserved stone fruit, plum compote, a date cooked with it, some cinnamon and fire tongs bowl, caramelized molasses with rum. In the theater on the stage blank cartridges from a rifle - inhaled in horror in the third row. Pompeii just after the eruption, be careful not to get your nose too close. Freshly cooked raisin quinoa basmati rice. Lumber mill, cellar muff, horse sweat and saddle, just a short ride. Dunnage Warehouse, forest floor, 4 elves and 3 dwarves gathering mushrooms. A touch of marshmallow blasted in the firecracker. Much to breathe this one still hath.
Mouth: Chewbacca Noise. Brimstone is a Death Star, bombed but operational. Firecrackers go off in the mouth, leaving a stunned impression. Pepper. Chestnut pesto with fresh coriander instead of parsley. Sulphurous whiskys are expressed by me as a particularly soapy taste, Happens to every guy sometimes this does, this is limited. Bitten off orange grapefruit with a lot of peel.
Finish: Firecrackers continue to bang until the early hours of the New Year.

Tormore 1993 GM

Let's try some water. Do or do not. There is no try.
With ½ teaspoon of water:
Nose: Umami, roasted aromas, chestnuts are just being roasted.
Mouth: Peppery, thin espresso from an improperly washed cup with dish soap and kumquat juice. Subtle sherry aromas.
Not exactly a soap opera, but not completely on the dark sherry side of the force either. The Zwiesel glass COGNAC ENOTECA 17 keeps the nose of sulphurous whisky at a sufficient distance and gives more subtle aromas the opportunity to emerge. Don't be afraid to try this one. Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.

87 / 100

MacNair's Lum Reek Cask Strength Batch 1, WB: 204301

MacNair's Lum Reek

Whisky in the glass Bhlas.
Music: Hugo Kant https://tinyurl.com/n4v5emnv, Mood: Dark and cold.
Nose: After about 20 minutes: dates, hints of peat. Citrus notes, honeydew melon forgotten in the cellar next to a broken bottle of sherry.
After 40 min: Cellar muff with dark mushrooms, roast meat, dates wrapped in bacon, freshly squeezed oranges, milk chocolate, leather. Dark dunnage warehouse.
Mouth: Peat, phenolic, maritime, salty notes. Sweet juicy orange juice with pieces of kumquat. Over caramelized sugar with espresso. Fir Honey from the Dark Abyss.
After 60 min: A freshly bitten peppercorn, allspice, cocoa powder, umami, stomach bread.
Finish: Heavy, dark red wine from the Ribera del Duero 2005, dry finish, but only slightly astringent.
With a teaspoon of water:
Nose: Dried fruits, sultanas and zibebes mixed with figs.
Mouth: Peat is expressed to ashtray, the day before 4 gauloises bleu. Pepper spiciness turns into ginger spiciness, nutmeg, cinnamon. Red orange juice spritzer with a good dash of grapefruit and pineapple juice.
In the finish, a 50% dark chocolate melts down the throat into the dark.
Night is finally falling over the city. Chimney smoke is in the air - winter is coming. It smells like snow.

90 / 100

Glentauchers 2009 WJ Art Edition No. 5, WB: 218915

Whisky in 1920's Blenders Glass. Colour: Riesling yellow; Mood: melancholic. Series: The Crown.
Nose: After about 20 minutes: Confectionery store, a pool of sweets - head in there. Members of the

melon family give each other the scepter. Honey, Gaia, Sugar. Hm, the watermelon doesn't do the honors. Vanilla pudding, cheesecake and rice pudding with cinnamon join the court. In the background, mulberries crown the posturing. Apricot, physalis and a rotten lemon among the infantry.
After 40 min: Roasted nuts mixed with lime zest as a topping on a citrus sorbet.
Mouth: After about 41 min: acrid, mouth numbing, cinnamon spiciness, nutmeg, astringent. Accidentally bitten through and spat out orange seeds, ...not amused...
Fourth sip: bitten through lemon seeds, chewed on out of embarrassment and swallowed.
Finish: A royal flush of lemon, effervescent tablets and hops.
Four teaspoons of water:
Nose: Ice Cuja Mara Split. Malt, IPA with Cascade and Citra hops. Sharbat, lemon sorbet, banana, coconut, vanilla and softcake orange.
Mouth: Orange seeds become apple seeds. Pepper, Lemon Verbena Tea. Ginger. waxy
Finish: Obstler, Eau de Vie de Mirabelle, very unripe pears. Grappa. Impeccable departure.
RIP Your Highness.

85 / 100

Daftmill 2006 15, WB: 206405

Daftmill 2006 15

Whisky in 1920's Blenders Glass. Color gold; Mood: Angry, constantly. Series: The Daredevil.
Already a legend: Daftmill. Would he have a chance in blind tasting?
Wetting the Palate: https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/171952/daftmill-2009
Nose: After 15 min: Cotton candy, Turkish delight or lokum (Ottoman Turkish: لوقوم), banana, coconut, syrup, stumble and fall into the autumn leaves - a breath of it. Cold bowl for the Sultan ('Hosaf'), but without cloves. Let's stay in the Orient: Baklava. Blind flight back to Europe: croissants. Hell of a kitchen these flavors. Close your eyes, blind or not blind, this whisky sends you on an unexpected journey through Eurasia, on a flying carpet of leaves on a warm cloud of vanilla. Aloha, campfire marshmallows. Candied pineapple. Isn't that America? Wow, interesting barrels, no question. Eat sleep stave repeat. Period.
After 30 minutes, roasted pistachios, cinnamon notes, dear whisky god, don't let it end. 1001 night. Damn, wrong series, we're actually on Moon Knight. Brown raw cane sugar - Demerara!
Mouth: After about 40 min: Sherbet or sharbat (شربت), meaning a drink of sugar and water.
But who the hell mixed in the chili flakes? Whoa, that's sharp, Mashallah. A pepper sharpness, black. A grain of salt. Grade A maple syrup flashes through. Fifth sip: coats your teeth, oil? No, rather waxy. Nutmeg, allspice spiciness, cinnamon spiciness, cloves spiciness, ginger spiciness, turmeric spiciness et cetera et cetera et cetera. The whole extended family of Spiciness and the Spicegirls.
Finish: Hot, hot, hot, warms the throat down to the Adam's apple. Forever long. Never ending Story. A grain of salt. The palate remains dry, the tongue almost sticks to it. Blunt teeth.
Water after 70 min, half a teaspoon:
Nose: The spiciness breaks out like a plague, burning the nose. Cotton candy fights against it. Good vs Evil. The Eternal Struggle.
Mouth: More chilli. This is joined by the whole pepper family of all stripes. Really folks, that's too much, I'm completely overwhelmed, do I still like it? Wax and oil occupy the pharynx.
More water, pleaseeee!
90 min, plus another half teaspoon:
The nose becomes milder, the spiciness slowly transforms into spices. What is this new devilry? Magic in Hell's Kitchen.
We want to dare more water!
100 min, a total of two teaspoons of water in the whisky:
Nose: Sharbet aromas paired with spices from the Orient. A touch of India in the air, sweet curry, a vanilla pod scraped out and forgotten. Caramelized sugar fills the air, pairs with cream, becomes Werther's Original (from the original German: Werthers Echte).
Mouth: What a change! This is witchcraft, taste explosions. The sweetness and the sharpness practice kung fu, extremely exciting moves in the mouth. Citrus and other exotic fruits join the fight. Spices, vanilla and a touch of tonka applaud in the background.
Three more drops of water and the impressions change again. Kung Fu becomes Tai Chi. A new hero enters the scene: Oak! Now I see the bigger plan here! Too much water and this new hero tends to take the lead. This whisky is above all a game with water (not fire!). Every whisky lover has to reach their personal bliss point drop by drop! Once the point is hit, this whisky becomes Felix Felicis.
Now close your eyes, visual impressions are superfluous. Meditate for 10 minutes, waiting for Nirvana. On the palate, Asian spices are still exercising martial arts.
"You Hit Them And They Get Back Up, I Hit Them And They Stay Down." - FrankCastle

95 / 100 

Secret Speyside 1994 LGA The Jazz, WB: 216470

Whisky in 1920's Blenders Glass.
Colour: light amber
Nose: sherry aromas, but subtle, rather bright yellow fruits apricot, peach, mirabelle plum, candy store,
Hints of Werther's Echte, hints of banana, coconut. Hints of spices, sage, thyme, eucalyptus, the latter leaves a freshness on the nose. Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Allspice.

Mouth: Powerful, alcoholic spiciness at the beginning, apricot, peach, pepper, hint of maritime, oaky (European oak), nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice.
fourth sip: wood freight.
Finish: long, slightly dry, but sticky, hint of bitter substances, a wee astringent, eucalyptus freshness
With water: the notes of wood take over, bitter substances.
Eighth sip after about 30 minutes, with water: hints of peat!
There's a lot going on, no 'smoother' malt. Nothing for 'beginners' (sorry for my arrogance), because of the wood load. The malt needs a lot of time, also in the bottle. Open, try again after 6 months. Yaaaazz!
Has great potential, I would buy again.

92 / 100