November Whiskies

It was a great October, but November was even better with a sampling of 31 different whiskies, 20 of which were new.  Not bad for an amateur.  Besides a whisky club night complete with a Japanese whisky tasting (10 new whiskies), there was also had a lovely 9:30 am stop at a duty free before a flight (4 whiskies), and a lovely atmosphere while sampling a flight of Walker & Scott's whiskies at the Cittie of Yorke in London (3 whiskys).  Skip to the end for the full list and their rankings!

Whisky of the Month: Cragganmore Distiller's Edition

Imagine mixing your good old Cragganmore 12 and buttery caramel in your mouth.  The flavors are gentle but make themselves known.  The texture is gently present as well - just a bit to the thick side of average.  I purchased this bottle to celebrate moving into a new apartment and it lived up to all my hopes and dreams (unlike the last bottle I bought to celebrate).  For those really geeking out this bottle was distilled in 2001 and bottled in 2014 and has the serial number Cg-6566 .  The shop also carried 12 year old editions distilled in 2003 and 2004 and bottled in 2015 and 2016 respectively.  According to the person behind the counter there is little difference between the three editions.  Needless to say this bottle will be replaced when it's gone.

Second Place: One Eight Untitled #14
Dang.  This bottle is about gone and it keeps getting better.  Untitled #14 is a six year old bourbon finished for a year in a barrel previously used for red wine.  This one isn't gentle and bursts with red berries and earthy wheat.  The texture is best described as juicy because my mouth waters with each sip.  At 50% it is a bit strong, but adding some water soothes the burn without diminishing the berry wheatiness.  When first opened, an alcohol burn and a sharp wheat note dominated, but both of these have mellowed nicely over a few months.  This is a replaceable one too, but I'm going to have to stoop to begging my friends from DC to bring me more...

Third Place: Strathearn Cherry Cask Finish

"Scotland's Original Craft Spirits Distillery" says their website in bold letters.  But a little poking  around on their site gives me little else to go on and I can't even find the set of three samplers Aldo kindly brought us from the distillery.  No worries though as the drams spoke for themselves.  They were small because there was little to go around, but I remember it being surprisingly complex and the cherry wood finish showed up nicely (as did the chestnut and mulberry cask finishes).  Maybe a bit on the oaky side, but I'd gladly risk that downside and buy a bottle.  These Strathearn drams, especially the cherry cask finish, left me wanting more.   

Honorable Mentions:

Lagavulin 10 - Only had a wee dram at duty free but was surprised by the light freshness of this expression compared to the thicker 9 year old House Lanister.  In was reasonably priced around 50 pounds, but I'm really trying hard to cut back on my whisky purchases.  In the past I would have picked up a bottle hands down.

Mentions:

Caol Ila Distiller's Edition and Laphroaig PX cask - With the exception of the Lagavulin 10, peated whiskies really didn't do it for me this month.  It will be interesting to see if this is just a temporary aberration in my palate rather than a more permanent shift.

Walker and Scott Whiskies - Let's just say the atmosphere of the Cittie of Yorke was worth it.  The Scotch is labeled as the "finest old"... two words that might as well be followed by "mixer" in all cases.  The bourbon was distilled in Indiana and at best probably aged as long as the trip down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and on the ride across the Atlantic.  Not MGP's (?) finest.  And the key point regarding the quality of these whiskies is that the Irish whisky was best... and I don't really like Irish whiskies.

November's List:
Full Rankings Here

Rank	Whisk(e)y	Normalized R-rating	W	L	SOS Score	Change
8	Cragganmore Distiller's Edition	96.0	9	0	90.9	10
21	One Eight Untitled 14	93.7	24	3	80.3	92
22	Strathearn Cherry Cask	93.7	12	1	82.5	NR
27	Aberlour 12 Sherry Cask	93.0	51	9	77.4	-1
39	Glenfiddich 15 Solera Cask	92.0	12	1	77.5	58
66	Kamiki Dark Wood Extra Aged	90.2	10	3	72.5	NR
79	Caol Ila Distiller's Edition	89.2	11	5	69.3	-43
89	Lagavulin 10	88.3	4	1	70.7	NR
92	GlenGrant Rothes Chronicles	87.9	8	4	66.3	NR
129	Nikka Days	85.8	7	5	60.5	NR
142	Glenmorangie Cadboll	85.2	9	7	58.3	NR
145	Knockdhu 6 (Carn Mor)	85.1	5	6	58.5	-4
149	Johnnie Walker Green	84.6	2	4	57.7	NR
153	Wild Turkey Rye	84.4	1	1	59.9	NR
161	Riverset Rye	84.1	4	5	55.8	59
162	Laphroaig PX Cask	84.1	10	10	55.3	-80
192	Johnnie Walker Island Green	82.5	5	4	50.8	NR
201	Strathearn Chestnut Cask	82.1	1	4	49.6	NR
210	Bulleit	81.8	24	24	49.2	-13
219	Strathearn Mulberry Cask	81.3	5	8	47.8	NR
237	Tomatin 8	80.3	4	8	44.9	NR
238	Jim Beam Black	80.3	19	30	45.5	17
271	Singleton House Tully	78.5	5	18	40.6	15
272	Kura Pure Malt	78.5	3	9	39.5	NR
278	Glenmorangie Duthac	77.8	2	5	36.3	NR
290	Kura Rum Cask Finish	77.3	3	10	36.5	NR
318	Famous Grouse Toasted Cask	75.5	2	11	31.3	NR
327	Walker & Scott's Bourbon	74.9	1	5	26.2	NR
333	Mars Maltage	73.9	1	12	27.0	NR
342	Walker & Scott's Irish Whiskey	73.1	2	9	23.5	NR
375	Walker & Scott's Scotch	69.8	0	7	11.4	NR