Tropical in nature, with pineapple, coconut, and kiwi. Additional notes of vanilla, caramel, new-mown hay, and light marzipan. Creamy on the palate throughout. A lovely whiskey, but the two finished versions above have it beat.

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Fall 2008)

The stocks of the “new era” Longrow keep getting older (and better). A pleasingly sweet foundation of burnt caramel, vanilla fudge, and toffeed nuts is challenged by earthy peat, tar, damp barnyard, and brine. Earthy, smoky finish. A nice whisky with great potential, but still needs a few more years.

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Fall 2008)

Quite nutty (especially the latter half of the palate), with chewy toffee, vanilla fudge, subtle fruit, and leafy smoke. I like the texture of this whisky. Quite satisfying. An improvement over the distillery-bottled 10 year old, which I suggested (Vol. 16, No. 2) needed to reach its teens to begin to fully develop. This whisky validates my theory. (Bottled for Maxwell Street Trading Co.)

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Fall 2008)

Light on the nose, with creamy vanilla, honey, soft oak, and delicate tropical fruit. Similar follow-through on the palate. I like how creamy and clean it is -- especially for 21 years old. It’s a light whisky, the kind that 21 years in the wood could have put a hurtin’ on, but it didn’t. An enjoyable Canadian whisky. (Exclusive to the Canadian market.)

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Fall 2008)

A combination of 6, 10, and 14 year old Longrow. I was concerned that there would be too much young whisky in here (like there was with the Springbank C.V. several years ago), but this isn’t the case. Youthful? Yes. Immature? No. A Longrow with an attitude. Creamy, sweeter vanilla notes up front, with kiln smoke, sea-soaked stone, tar, anise, chocolate fudge, and apricot. I would like to see more of the older whisky in here, because it leans towards the young side, but it is still a vibrant, enjoyable whisky.

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Fall 2008)

A “straight from the cask” bottling, finished in a Grand Arôme rum barrel. I can really pick up the rum. If you’ve ever had rum from La Reunion island (easiest to find in France), you immediately pick it out here. Peculiar straw gold/lime green color. Intriguing on the palate, too: botanicals, fennel, liqueur-ish, honeyed malt, red licorice, and tropical fruit. Sort of like a cross between a scotch and something Benedictine monks would make. A nice change of pace. (Bottled for Maxwell Street Trading Co.)

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Fall 2008)

Light, crisp, and gently sweet. Notes of vanilla, cut hay, honey, and lemon, with a grainy, dry bourbon-oak finish. A warm weather whisky, or as an aperitif. Perhaps a way to introduce a vodka drinker to whiskey?

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Fall 2008)

This cask-strength whisky turns cloudy with the addition of water. Nice balance of both moderate sherry and smoke, with underlying fruit gum drops, shortbread, charcoal, black licorice, and subtle herbs. An assertive whiskey. The flavors aren’t as crisp as I would like, but pretty good for seven years old. (Bottled exclusively for Binny’s Beverage Depot)

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Fall 2008)

Grape candy, raisin, blueberries, vanilla malt, and lavender, with hints of lemon and spearmint. More aggressive campfire embers and damp earth burn underneath, along with some salt. A whisky that grows on you, and not bad for 7 years old.

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Fall 2008)

Aged in a re-charred sherry butt. Sweet, but not cloying, with plenty of fruit throughout. Toffee, vanilla fudge, roasted chestnuts, and nougat, enhanced by glazed peaches, burnt pineapple, dark cherry pits, and subtle anise. Gripping charred oak tannins emerge mid-palate and continue on the finish detracting from an otherwise very pleasant experience. (Bottled exclusively for Binny’s Beverage Depot)

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Fall 2008)

A distillery bottling of Ardmore finally comes to the U.S. This one is non-chill filtered and finished in a “Quarter Cask,” similar to Laphroaig Quarter Cask (same owners). Ardmore remains one of the few Speyside whiskies made with peat-smoked malt. Chewy, almost oily-textured, with sweet notes of toffee and caramel up front, followed by emerging damp, earthy peat and bourbon-like notes. The oaky, resinous bourbon lingers through the finish. The bourbon oak intensity dominates to a degree, disrupting the harmony of the remaining flavors. A whisky of great potential, but still waiting to achieve some of it.

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Fall 2008)

Not immature, but very intense and unabashed. Sweet barley notes and vanilla are beaten up by coal tar, damp kiln smoke, and fiery spice on the finish. For those who like their Islay whiskies young. Very young. I would have waited a couple more years before bottling this one. Pure testosterone. (Bottled for Maxwell Street Trading Co.)

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Fall 2008)

Made from 100% malted barley (wash from the adjacent Flying Dog brewery) and aged for a minimum of two years. Surprisingly good for such a young whisky. Layers of sweetness (honey, caramel, toffee), with some nutty/nougat notes, bourbon-like charred oak, and background spice. Some youthful “burn” emerges toward the latter half of the palate -- a little careful aging would smooth out the finish and add depth. Still, a very nice effort.

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Fall 2008)

Matured in a refill sherry cask. (A first-fill sherry cask would have completely dominated Rosebank’s delicate flavor profile.) With the addition of water (which is necessary), the whisky becomes quite cloudy. Rosebank’s traditional honeyed vanilla, grass/hay, and soft fruit are accentuated by lightly sherried, soft toffee flavors. An interesting whisky, but the flavors are not clean and well-defined enough to warrant a higher rating.

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Fall 2008)

Cooley distillery’s oldest blend to date. Packaged in what looks like a very large perfume bottle. Elegant and creamy on the nose, with vanilla, coconut, grass, and suggestions of bourbon. Similar on the palate, but more reserved. Becoming dry on the finish with lingering charred oak. I think the slightly austere oaky finish detracts from what otherwise would be a very nice blend. The best part of this whiskey is the nose.

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Fall 2008)

Antique amber. Deeper, brooding, and less sweet than the 14 year old bottling. Distinct notes of leather, roasted nuts, and hints of tobacco on the nose and palate, along with some of the flavors of its younger sibling. It works on the nose, but the tannins (both from the wine and oak) impart a leather component that just dominates the palate. (I am seeing a pattern here with these younger vs. older whiskeys in the Experimental Collection series. The younger expressions have generally been pretty good, while most of the older ones have been aged too long.)

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Fall 2008)

The owners of Bunnahabhain are making a peated version of this normally unpeated Islay whisky to put in their peated blend, Black Bottle. But they have not yet put out, as a regular item, a peated expression of Bunnahabhain for purchase. However, some of the independent bottlers got their hands on some, and this might be the first one to be offered in the U.S. It’s what you would expect a 9 year old peated Bunnahabhain to taste like: toffee, vanilla fudge, and nuts (the Bunny signature), kiln peat smoke, and a bit too much youthfulness. It needs a few more years to mature to acceptable levels. (Bottled for Binny’s Beverage Depot)

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Fall 2008)

Port Ellen is going to just keep getting rarer and more expensive, and the quality is going to get more variable. This one shows the traditional Port Ellen characteristics (seaweed, tar, charcoal, damp earth, vanilla, salt, white pepper), but it just seems to flatten out mid-palate, leading to a fairly lifeless, slightly astringent finish. I feel like some of the guts were ripped out of this whisky. Bottling at a higher strength (and not chill-filtered) would have helped immensely.

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Fall 2008)