2014 Connosr Members' Whisky Awards

For me, the two whiskies that really blew me away this past year were first, Willett Family Estate 24 yo rye barrel no. 637. This was an absolutely incredible rye. If this is what a good rye tastes like than I have most definitely found a new love.

Second, a bottle I just opened a short while ago, Parker's Heritage Golden Anniversary. Wow!.. Is all I have to say about this bourbon. I can not wait to explore more from the Parker's Heritage range.

My list in no particular order: - Springbank 10 - Longrow CV - Glenmorangie Ealanta - Glendronach 21 YO

I think 4 of my top drams tasted this year would be:

1. Bladnoch 11 year old sherry cask matured at 55%. Produced from still to bottle by the team lead by Raymond Armstrong. A single cask expression at almost cask strength. It opened a little rough but after a month or so has opened up and exhibits similar characteristics to the first bottle I had, a 10 year old.

2. Booker's small batch bourbon, batch C04-1-19. I've now tried four bourbons (all Beam products, I believe), and while I admit I haven't widely experienced this type of whisky, I was blown away by the flavour and the mouth-feel.

3. Aberlour A'Bunadh batch 44. This one was a hit from the first dram. Rich, powerful, and a great version of a classic.

4. Forty Creek Heart of Gold. I usually go for cask strength favour, but this one taught me about subtle complexity. The nose is awesome and while much lighter than I'm used to, the palate is excellent.

Also add:

• Kavalan Solist Sherry

and...

• Amrut Intermediate Sherry

I think that is about it.

Yes @sengjc, the Kavalan Solist Sherry Cask is a wonderful sherry-bomb indeed : )

Tamdhu 10 - solid, every day, sherry cask matured whisky. The only problem is that they're not doing the 43% version in the UK. It's only a 3% bump (about £1 in taxes - the reason I was given for it not being released here) but it makes a big difference - the 40% is good, the 43% really good.

Nice discussion, @CanadianNinja.

I am one more singing the praise of Amrut Intermediate Sherry. I'm still waiting for a taste of that Kavalan Solist Sherry. The other one that most stands out for me is the Parkers Heritage Collection mixture of mash bills, 68.95% abv. Stupendous drink. I will mention a third: Nikka Coffey Single Grain Whisky. That one is the very best corn whisky I have ever tasted, by a large margin.

@CanadianNinja, a 24 yo Willett Rye is a rare and wonderful beast.

Yes, the Sullivan's Cove French Oak Port Cask 47.5% is a magnificent 'drop' but my choice is another Aussie, the Lark Distillery 20th. Anniversary Whisky...

larkdistillery.com.au/products/…

Great discussion!

Cheers.

@Victor I could swear that I poured you some Kavalan Solist sherry cask, once when you and Julie were at the Four Seasons here in Toronto. Unless I'm imagining it, which is entirely possible?

@CanadianNinja Thanks Canadian Ninja - what a great idea! Hmmm…what would mine be…I suppose I'd have to go back through all my reviews, and even then I'd miss a bunch that I tasted without writing about…so I'm going to totally wing this. It could be anything I tasted last year, even if I had tasted it before, old releases, new releases, whatevs.

Best Rye: Thomas H Handy 2012 Release (66.2%ABV) (High West 21yo rye would be a close 2nd)

Best Pot Still: well, I guess Redbreast 15yo, I finished my bottle last year…

Best Whisky Liqueur: Dunkeld Atholl Brose

Best Grain: SMWS G10.4 A Witch's Christmas Tipple (Strathclyde 23yo)

Best Flavoured Whisky: Ugh. I'll have to include Alberta Premium Dark Horse, though technically in Canada that may not count. Otherwise, the rest are awful…

Best Canadian: tie between 1946 Harwood and Alberta Premium 25yo

Best Blend: I'm stumped. I would pick Black Bull 40 Year Old Batch No. 1 but I think I killed the bottle in 2012, can't quite remember. In which case, I would have to go with Jameson Rarest Vintage Reserve 2009.

Best Blended Malt: Sheep Dip 1999 Amoroso Oloroso

Best American Whisky: Stitzel-Weller (distilled before their 1991 closure), not available for sale, exclusive to seminar delegates at 2013 WhiskyFest NY.

Best Single Malt: Glenmorangie Ealanta BAH HA JUST KIDDING FOLKS!! It would be Rare Malts Glenury Royal 23 Year Old.

@talexander, if I ever poured any Kavalan Solist Sherry Cask in Toronto it must have been @thecyclingyogi's bottle, because we've never owned any. I don't remember ever having tasted any Kavalan...,but, who knows? maybe I missed one in one of those Toronto long line ups of drams...seems like one I would have remembered.

@Victor No, it was my bottle, not @thecyclingyogi (he was there though). I have a pretty clear memory of it, I had it kind of hidden in my bag, then revealed it toward the end of the night (which might explain forgetting about it!) Maybe @thecyclingyogi remembers, he could weigh in if he reads this, as my memory is not always reliable.

@talexander, @Dramlette says that she does remember that we did have some Kavalan Solist Sherry Cask with you. The bottle looks vaguely familiar to me, but I guess I'll need another dram to confirm. I need to re-establish whatever impression I had of it then.

@Victor I would share more with you, but alas….my bottle is long gone…..sigh. I remember it well.

@talexander ...or perhaps you've forgotten which bag it is in.

@paddockjudge Ha - I remember pouring the last drops…which mingled with my bitter tears...

@Victor, @talexander, why don't you two make your way over to Japan sometime and I'll happily pour us some drams of the Solist Sherry Cask! Plenty left in my bottle... for now anyway... ; )

Well I guess this is a good chance to break my recent "curse"! I'd reviewed Ealanta as one of my 'top malts' and given its highest mark on Connosr-- then by pure chance, later on the same day, Jim Murray's news broke. And now this business with Sullivan's Cove, after being the only reviewer and naming it most underappreciated. I had nothing to do with their votes of course, it's just a shame I can no longer access favorites I have identified.

So here it is, my next choice in line: Arran 16. But let's be clear, the awards on this bulletin must really be for 2013 (at least I personally am not so lucky to have sampled many 2014 malts). And I guess this bulletin is for new releases rather than recurring malts (or I might put the perennially available Glenmorangie 25 here). Two or three of us have reviewed the limited Arran release highly. I just checked and saw that Ralfy had reviewed it with an ordinarily good score-- but then revised it upwards after sitting for a few minutes. I found the 16yo to be a tier above the other Arran's. So there's my tip, and one which is very unlikely to correspond to any other awards elsewhere! Done.

@vanPelt The 25 is the best Glenmo' I've ever had!

@vanPelt: Quite right about the mention of 2013. If we’re going with an awards theme, we might as well base it on last year. For me, one of the best new releases SPECIFIC to 2013 was the Glengoyne Cask Strenth. Brilliant stuff.

@CanadianNinja: nice offer. But if @Victor and @talexander want more Kavalan, they should come to the source here in Taiwan first. After trying the entire Kavalan lineup and stocking up on JW Green, we can all head up to Japan and go on a Japanese whisky bender! I'm sure there are a few bourbons specific to Japan that we can toss into the mix as well!

One of these days... :)

@talexander "Best American Whisky: Stitzel-Weller (distilled before their 1991 closure), not available for sale, exclusive to seminar delegates at 2013 WhiskyFest NY."

I tasted that one at WhiskeyFest NY and remember it well. It was very special.

I see a lot of love for the Amrut Intermediate Sherry...looks to go for $100+, is it worth the price of admission?

@broadwayblue

Absolutely! IS is one of my favourite sherry-matured drams.

@broadwayblue, if you like sherried malt, and you like it very clean and sulphur-free, there are relatively few excellent choices. Amrut Intermediate Sherry is at the top of that list for me. I don't like to spend a lot of money for whisky either. At $ 95- $130 I consider Amrut Intermediate Sherry to be very fairly priced relative to value. Below $ 95 it would be a steal. Compared to buying a bottle of a high quality Scottish sherried malt, say Glenfarclas 40 yo (wine-searcher.com average world price at $ 454), $ 150 for a bottle of Amrut Intermediate Sherry looks to me like an absolute steal. BUT, it is all about your liking of sherried malts. This bottle is all about the sherry influence.

Glendronach Batch 3 and Kilchoman Loch Gorm 2013

Glengoyne Batch 2 and Kilchoman Loch Gorm. Kilchoman was quite active this year with the release of quite a few good expressions

@Nozinan & Victor,

Thanks. At first I was a bit unsure about spending $100 on such a young whisky...but I am able to taste the off-putting sulfur note in quite a few drams, so this Amrut sounds quite appealing to me. I think I'll give it a try.

@CanadianNinja

Too bad the regular Kavalans like the King Car and Concertmaster are just so-so.

@sengjc, unfortunately I have no experience with any other expressions in the Kavalan range. I would very much like to explore other Taiwanese whiskies though. I'll just have to add them to my already seemingly endless list of 'whiskies I want to try'!