October Whiskies of the Month

A montage of pics from the VIC whisky club October meeting. 
The lovely bottle of Nikka is bottom, second from the left.

 It was a great October.  I sampled 21 different whiskies, 11 of which were new.  A table listing all 21 and their current stats is at the end.  But first the whisky of the month, runner up, and honorable mentions.

Whisky of the Month: Nikka from the Barrel

This fruit bomb lived up to the hype.  I must admit that I’m not actually a fan of Japanese whisky.  I think it is perfectly fine whisky but that it doesn’t live up to the hype (and therefore doesn’t justify the cost).  When I sampled it at the VIC whisky club I was expecting something light, nice, but most of all “non-offensive”.  Nope.  This one wasn’t light.  It was packed with both crisp fruits – apples, pears – as well as pitted fruits – peaches, nectarines.  A while ago I picked up a bottle at duty free for about 50 Euros but never opened it.  Now I’m really glad I have one tucked away for a special occasion.

Runner Up: Cragganmore Distiller’s Edition

Imagine mixing your good old Cragganmore 12 and a caramel in your mouth.  If that does it for you then I'd recommend this one.  I purchased this bottle to celebrate moving into a new apartment and it lived up to my hopes and dreams (unlike the last bottle I bought to celebrate).  For those of you really geeking out this bottle was distilled in 2001 and bottled in 2014 and has the serial number Cg-6566 .  If I remember correctly, the shop also carried 12 year old editions distilled in 2003 and 2004 and bottled in 2015 and 2016.  The shop owner said there was little difference between the three editions so there’s a good chance I’ll be picking one up after I kill this bottle.

Honorable Mentions:

Tomatin 12 – The poor Win-Loss record of this whisky is primarily due to it going up against other stellar whiskies.  This wasn’t a bad whisky at all and I think many other reviewers were correct when they say it’s a good value whisky.  I would consider buying a bottle of Tomatin 12 in place of Monkey Shoulder or Copper Dog.

Talisker House Greyjoy – Of the Game of Thrones releases I’ve tried so far, I’d say the lot as a whole is priced about right and the Talisker House Greyjoy is the best of the lot.  Fresh black pepper other spices sit on top of your normal Talisker profile.  I would describe this one as a “fresh and clean” Talisker while the Lagavulin House Lannister was “stale” compared to other Lagavulin expressions. 

The Full List:

Rank	Whisk(e)y	Normalized R-rating	Win - Loss		SOS Score
5	Nikka from the Barrel	96.9	9	0	92.4
18	Cragganmore Distiller's Edition	94.2	6	0	88.4
22	Glen Devron 20	93.5	10	2	81.1
30	Bunnahabhain Erigh Na Greine	92.4	7	2	79.9
33	Caol Ila Distiller's Edition	92.3	9	2	77.5
54	Talisker House Greyjoy	90.9	6	3	71.7
62	Oban Night's Watch	90.4	25	12	69.8
75	Laphroaig PX Cask	89.2	10	2	75.1
96	Lagavulin House Lannister (9 Yr)	87.3	5	4	64.8
102	Longmorn 9 (Carn Mor)	87.0	2	1	68.4
108	Oban Little Bay	86.8	8	5	62.7
113	One Eight Untitled 14	86.5	6	4	62.2
135	Knockdhu 6 (Carn Mor)	85.5	3	5	59.4
157	Scapa 11	84.1	8	8	55.1
170	Kilchoman 100% Islay	83.1	1	2	52.8
214	Riverset Rye	81.5	2	3	47.0
231	Ertzbrau Da Johann	80.2	1	3	42.1
244	Jim Beam Black	79.2	17	30	42.5
276	Amrut Fusion	77.5	7	19	37.8
279	Singleton House Tully	77.4	4	15	37.4
292	Tomatin 12	76.7	1	9	33.8