Queen Margot 8-year-old (Lidl)

Bought – Lidl, 27th August 2013

Ratings:
89/100 – Whisky Bible 2013
76/100 – Whiskybase (average from 3 member votes)

I can’t be the only one that suffers from a touch of whisky snobbery. To try and cleanse myself of this limiting view I leafed through the pages of the Whisky Bible until I found Lidl’s very own ‘Queen Margot’. It sounds like a ship, so it was quite appropriate that I had a sinking feeling. Could this be any good?! Apparently there are two suppliers of this whisky for Lidl, Clydesdale Scotch Whisky Co whose version gets 84/100 and Wallace & Young whose version scores 89/100. Thankfully my local Lidl had a Queen Margot supplied by the latter.

For £13 for 70cl it seemed worth trying, and I trust Jim Murray to know the different between whisky and paint stripper. 89/100 classifies this blend as “very good to excellent whisky definitely worth buying” and he says about the taste, “the best blends offer a degree of nip and bite and this doesn’t disappoint. A touch of juiciness early on and then the lightest coating of oil soothes – even as the grains gain the upper hand.” He summaries with “a satisfying blend with a delicious clarity to the light malts and high class grains. Just the right touch of sweetness, too.”

Scoring 76/100 on Whiskybase is a reasonable mark, albeit from only 3 votes so far.

Old St Andrews ‘Clubhouse’

Bought – Drink Supermarket, 28th July 2013

Ratings:
82/100 – Whisky Bible 2013

How could anyone resist the cuteness of this bottle?! And with 82/100 from the Whisky Bible it falls into the catagory of a ‘good whisky worth trying’ so the contents is going to be nice too! My 5cl miniature set me back £3.13 but I notice ASDA do a big bottle for £21. If this tastes as good as my golf then I wont be bothering to visit ASDA. There are others in the ‘Old St Andrews’ range worth looking at though. Varieties such as Fireside, Nightcap and Twilight certainly float Jim Murray’s boat with some good scores. I’ve also seen miniatures of a Par 3 and Par 4, so I could end up with a glass golf ball collection!

Oban 14-year-old

Bought – Whisky Exchange, 28th July 2013

Ratings:
79/100 – Whisky Bible 2013
84/100 – Ralfy, of www.ralfy.com
Review: – Ralfy – Oban 14yo – YouTube

Mortlach 15-year-old

Bought – Whisky Galore, 1st August 2013

Ratings:
85/100 – Whiskybase (average from 12 member votes)

A Gordon & MacPhail bottling which always implies a certain level of quality. I did find a video on YouTube in German where the reviewer finishes by saying “wunderbar!” Since he wasn’t sitting in a ‘wonderful bar’ at the time, my school boy German is telling me he liked the Mortlach. I’ll have to see if he’s right!

85/100 on Whiskybase is an excellent score. Comments include “fruity aromas with delicate hints of smoke and vanilla that give it a playful whole. The character is nicely balanced and mild, the palette consists of oak with slight
sherry notes and hints of truffle oil” and “very rewarding and highly recommended. Interesting with and without water.”

Macallan ‘Fine Oak’ 10-year-old

Bought – Morrisons, 27th August 2013

Ratings:
90/100 – Whisky Bible 2013
80.91/100 – Whiskybase (average from 123 member votes)

Buying this was a bit of a knee-jerk reaction. I’d been reading online that Macallan were discontinuing the younger age statements (10yo, 12yo and perhaps even the 15yo) of the ‘Sherry Oak’ and ‘Fine Oak’ range. A number of online shops had ‘discontinued’ beside these whiskies, which was quite a big clue. The only Macallan I could see in supermarkets was the new Gold NAS (no age statement) variety. It’s either too new for Jim Murray to have added it to his bible or he just couldn’t bring himself to drink it. Then, out of the blue, Morrisons had one solitary bottle of ‘Fine Oak’ 10yo, sitting in front of a big queue of unloved ‘Gold’. It had no price because it wasn’t meant to be there. Although the ‘Sherry Oak’ is considered better as a 10yo I thought “what the heck”, grabbed the bottle and bought it. I’m not sure if I’ll keep it as an investment but at 90/100 in the bible it shouldn’t be bad at warming the cockles during a few cold winter nights. No, hang on, I live in England now so we don’t get those! 😉

Here’s Luke Rymarz on You Tube comparing the 10yo ‘Fine Oak’ with the 12yo ‘Sherry Oak’ (Jan 2013):

Macallan 10-year-old (old version)

Received as a gift.

This version pre-dates the introduction of saying ‘sherry oak’ or ‘fine oak’ and comes from a time when it was plain and simply “the 10-year-old” Macallan. Sadly it’s only a miniature so I wont be swapping it for an Aston Martin 20 years from now. I might as well drink it then!

 

Longrow CV

Bought – Drink Supermarket, 4th September 2013, as part of the Campbeltown CV set (3 x 20cl) along with Hazelburn and Springbank CV.

Ratings:
91/100 – Whisky Bible 2013
86.18/100 – Whiskybase (average from 13 member votes)

As part of my latest whisky addiction I got a copy of Ian Buxton’s book “101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die” and in it was the Longrow CV (p145 if you have a copy). I then read that it had been discontinued, so panic set in. A whisky that I’d vaguely heard of in June was now my ‘malts most wanted’ No.1 priority! But, being on a budget, and of the mind “why get one for the same price as 3!” I jumped at the chance of getting this Longrow along with a Hazelburn and Springbank. Unfortunately the Springbank in the 101 book is the 10yo, not the CV, so I was unable to kill two birds with one stone. As yet I’ve not heard that the Springbank 10yo is going to be discontinued but we could start the rumour now! There shouldn’t be any rush to get it…..or is there?!

Oh, for those of you like me who weren’t sure what the ‘CV’ stands for in connection to a whisky it’s ‘curriculum vita’ (seems obvious now…doesn’t it?!). This might be why the Longrow has been discontinued, because it presented its CV to another distillery and got a job elsewhere. Springbank and Hazelburn made the shortlist but failed the ‘walk a straight line’ test.

Here’s Jo of Whisky Wednesday with his review of the Longrow CV (Jan 2015):

Linkwood 15-year-old (G&M)

Bought – Whisky Galore, 1st August 2013

Ratings:
86/100 – Whiskybase (average from 6 member votes)

Bottled by Gordon & MacPhail (G&M), this Linkwood scores a fantastic 86/100 on Whiskybase where one member says, “great understated Speyside single malt that has got a strength of character. It can easily compete with other better known Speyside distilleries”. The ‘bottled’ date of 2015 on Whiskybase is incorrect because I got mine in 2013 and it has the same bar code.

Although the Whisky Bible 2013 doesn’t mention this particular bottling of Linkwood, one thing Jim Murray says about G&M is that they never fail to deliver. I’ve rarely seen a bottling of theirs get less than 85/100 in the bible, so their quality is very consistent.

Linkwood is another family favourite, being one my uncle Hamish loved to have. It will be interesting to see how this one shapes up to other Linkwood in my collection.

Here’s Trenny & C on YouTube with their thoughts about the Linkwood 15yo (May 2016):

Ledaig

Bought – Morrisons, 2nd September 2013

Sadly no review from the Whisky Bible or Ralfy for this one so I’m out on a wing and a prayer. In general the versions of the Ledaig score pretty well in the bible with the 12yo going as high as 90/100. Two versions of the 10yo get in the mid eighties but one unfortunately only crawls in with 63/100. Let’s hope this NAS hasn’t got some of the latter in it! But what attracted me to this particular bottle was a) it’s price (less than £20 for a full 70cl) and b) general comments on forums that it was a good entry-level malt. Not necessarily sophisticated but at the same time you’re not going to spit it out over the cat. Unless you’re wanting a mad malty moggy eating your face in gratitude! 🙂

Update (January 2016) – Unfortunately this Ledaig has been discontinued but bottles are still available in certain stores as well as at auction. Whiskybase list it here where it scores a respectable 76.71 from 37 member votes. Below is a video review by Mark Dermul about this Ledaig and I agree with him that it’s extremely drinkable!

Laphroaig Quarter Cask

Bought – Tesco, 24th July 2013

Ratings:
96/100 – Whisky Bible 2013
90/100 – Ralfy, of www.ralfy.com
Review: – Ralfy – Laphroaig Quarter Cask – YouTube