Discovery Road - "Smile" - Review

Happy Friday my whisky loving friends,

To finish off my reviews of the Discovery Road whisky range I had a sample of the Discovery Road "Smile".  This is the last in the range that I'll be reviewing and finishes off from where I started which was the introduction a few weeks back.  If you still need to check out the introduction you can click right here.

Discovery Road "Smile" is a 7 year old Dutch whisky made from 100% rye and, as with the others, it has been bottled at 46% ABV.

Also released in December 2013 it is described on Dominic Roskrow's website http://worldwhisky.co.uk, as "An absolute corker.  This mixes spicy rye notes with a delicious toffee and milk chocolate, soft peach and apricot fruits and a red liquorice core."   

Here's what I think:

Nose - Creamy biscuit, oak and vanilla.  Reminds me very much of pot still Irish whiskey, specifically Redbreast.  Some pine / cedar wood comes through with a touch of dried fruit and mixed spice.  With some water the pine becomes a bit plastic like but in a good way.  With even more time the dried fruit becomes huge.

Palate - Spicy and creamy.  The pine is still evident with some menthol.  Dried fruit still shows up with red apple.  Also has a nice tang of what feels like virgin oak.  All that water does to the palate is make it much softer.

Finish - A touch light but fresh fruit is dominant with a sherried xmas cake feel.

A top notch dram that's evidently young but packs a huge amount of flavour.

As with all of the Discovery Road range this bottling can be found on Master of Malt - http://www.masterofmalt.com/whiskies/discovery-road/discovery-road-smile-100-percent-rye-whisky/

Well that's the whole range tasted, enjoyed and reviewed and all I can say is wow.  The Discovery Road range really highlights what is to be gained by looking a little further afield when it comes to buying your drams.  Dominic Roskrow really has pulled out all the stops to bring us some absolute belters and I for one can't wait to see where this journey takes us.

If I had to rate the current range in order of preference then I would have to go:

1 - Courage
2 - Smile
3 - Four Lions

But don't let this fool you into thinking that "Four Lions" is in anyway the weak link.  All 3 are amazing and each has it's own personality.  

Once again, huge thanks to Dom for the samples.  It's been a real pleasure and an taste bud opening experience.

Until next time,

Slainte 

SI

Celtic Whiskey Club - Teeling Whiskey Company "Tweet Tasting" Preview

Hello again,

Just one other wee quick update before I retire for the evening and for this we shall look to another preview of an up-and-coming "Tweet Tasting".

Yet again being a member of the Celtic Whiskey Club is bearing fruit and this time it's with the assistance of the Teeling Whiskey Company.  

On 26th March 2014, at 7:30pm, the Celtic Whiskey Club shall be taking to the world of Twitter to showcase something rather special as, for this awesome tasting, the Teeling Whiskey Company are going all out by supplying 3 extremely unique samples.

These samples shall be three single malts, all of which are slightly different.  They are being coy enough not to explain the differences but there is good reason as this is to be a blind tasting.  What they are asking is for Celtic Whiskey Club members to evaluate them purely on taste, and this is when it starts to get really fun, as these samples are contenders for future releases from the people at Teeling.

As stated the tasting shall be held on 26th March 2014 at 7:30pm and you can all follow along by keeping an eye on the feeds at @celticwhiskeycl and @celticwhiskey.

As I'm sure you are all aware, "Tweet Tastings" are a perfect way to get involved online and interact with like minded people while having some amazing craic.

I hope you all can join in on what promises to be a truly special evening.

Until next time,

Slainte.

SI

Discovery Road - "Courage" - Review

Hello, HelIo, Hello,

I know there's been a touch of neglect in my blog updates recently but you would not believe how busy I've been.  Mad times.    

I'll get straight back into it though with an update regarding another one of the new "Discovery Road" whiskies.  This, obviously, is to follow on from the general introduction I wrote a few weeks ago which can be found by clicking here. 

This update shall focus on the Discovery Road "Courage" bottling.  

This is a Dutch single malt 14 year old, matured in first fill Oloroso sherry casks, and has been bottled at 46% ABV.

It was released in December 2013 and is described on Dominic Roskrow's website http://worldwhisky.co.uk, as "a big beastie of a sherried whisky, with dark chocolate, coffee liqueur, date, dark cherry and Christmas spices"  All sounding good so far.  

Well, yet again, onto my own tasting notes:

Nose - The instant blast as it pours from the bottle, and immediately as it sits in the glass, is that of dark chocolate coffee creams / pipe tobacco.  We also have red apple, stewed seville oranges, sugary malt and freshly buttered white toast going on.  As it sits in the glass the sherry takes over with all it's might with a huge dried fruit / xmas cake explosion, fully accompanied by all the spices you would expect including nutmeg and cinnamon…..Dom was not wrong with his own description.

Palate - Sweet xmas cake, more orange and gentle spice.  This is rich, chewy and highly enjoyable.  The dark chocolate coffee creams return with some demerara sugar.

Finish - Short - medium with a beautiful sherry cask sweetness.

This is simply delicious and highly original.  It's one of the best "sherried" whiskies I've ever tasted and shows perfectly why we should all open our minds and broaden our horizons away from the traditional, safe comfort, of scotch.

As with all of the Discovery Road range this bottling can be found on Master of Malt - http://www.masterofmalt.com/whiskies/discovery-road/discovery-road-courage-14-year-old-whisky/

Well all that's left is to review the last in the range which is the "Smile" and having already tried it I can tell you it has certainly made me do just that.

So, until next time,

Slainte

SI