Rock Oyster 18 Year Old
Out With the Old
7 988
Review by @OdysseusUnbound
- Nose21
- Taste23
- Finish22
- Balance22
- Overall88
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Distribution of ratings for this:
- Brand: Rock Oyster
- Type: Scotch
- ABV: 46.8%
I've enjoyed every Douglas Laing blended malt I've tried. Whoever is responsible for the cask selection over there is doing a fantastic job. Rock Oyster is a vatting of malt whiskies from the various islands on Scotland's West Coast. Curiously, this offering was recently renamed "Rock Island" because, according to some internet sources, the name "Oyster" put some people off. Weird. Oh well. Changing a name isn't as big a deal as, say, removing Non-Chillfiltered from your official packaging (I'm looking at you, Glendronach). Rock Oyster 18 Year Old is bottled at 46.8% abv, natural colour (no E150a) and it is not chill-filtered (HUZZAH!!!). According to the interweb machine, this is a blend of whiskies from Arran, Islay (Laphroaig? Caol Ila? I don't know), Jura and Orkney (HP? Scapa?).
Tasting notes
- Nose (undiluted): vanilla, peaches, melon, salty and/or briny, iodine, light smoke and campfire ash, a bit of ripe banana
- Palate: medium bodied, smoke on arrival, brine, iodine (Laphroaig? Bowmore?), some lemon zest, cashews, leather, banana skins, and as weird as it sounds...I'm getting a bit of raw chocolate chip cookie dough. Yum.
- Finish: long and warming, briny, light oak tannins, tobacco, leather, sugar cookies and a malty finish
- Thoughts: The longer this lingers in the glass, the more I'm convinced there's some Bowmore in the mix. That's a good thing for me since I love Bowmore. The blend is rich and well balanced. No element dominates or feels out of whack. Another winner from Douglas Laing. I'd love to try the newer releases as the re-named "Rock Island" line contains a NAS, a 10 year, and a 21 year version.
@OdysseusUnbound thank you for your review. You will admit that you love Bowmore? Good for you! The few, the proud.
Oyster lovers never seem to be able to understand when somebody doesn't like to eat oysters. I am one of those people who is turned off by Oyster in the name of something I am planning to drink.
$54 average world asking price is quite inexpensive for any 18 years age-stated whiski.