As Rod Stewart once sang, “Every picture tells a story“. Yes, Rod. It most certainly does!

The photo at the top of this post tells us many many things. Here’s what it tells me…

1. The two bottles that you see came to us from the good people at Single Cask Nation (aka The Jewish Whisky Company).
2. They’ve switched from sending out samples in clear glass to sending out samples in frosted glass.
3. The sample on the left comes from the Loch Lomond Distillery. It went in to a refill Bourbon Hogshead in March of 2006 and was bottled in June of 2016. It also has a healthy ABV of 56.6%.
4. The sample on the right comes from the Bunnahabhain Distillery. It went into a refill Ex-Sherry Hogshead in February of 1988 and was bottled in June of 2016. It too is bottled at a healthy ABV. This whisky clocks in at 51.3%.
5. The guy that took this photo really likes to douche it up with the picture taking. Rumor has it that he keeps a couple of strands of Christmas lights around so that he can get those douchey bokeh effects. There’s also a rumor going around that he likes to say douche a lot. Don’t believe everything you read on the interwebz.

Now that we’ve got that bit of non-sense out of the way, let’s move on to our reviews.

Single Cask Nation Loch Lomond 10 Year Old, Cask #486

Here’s what our friend Josh “Yo Yo Yossi!” Hatton has to say about this whisky…

And now for our impressions…

• Appearance: Pale, pale, pale with a color that was just a shade above water.
• ABV: 56.6%
• Aroma
  • Limpd: Vapory and astringent at the start. Once it opens up, I get rubber gloves and then some sugar, honey, vanilla, and heather.
  • G-LO: Whoa! This brings the noise and the funk. A baked spiced pear is in there. After that, things get weird (not bad weird. More like “What the hell am I smelling?” weird). AHA! This reminds me of the Connemara Cask Strength thanks to the Irish peat vibe that I’m picking up. I’m also getting a chocolatey scent coming through along with some menthol.
• Taste
  • Limpd: Woody with mild sweetness and a whole lot of heat (i.e. some alcohol burn and hot peppers). The finish was mild and dry with a whole lot of residual heat. Did I mention that this whisky has a whole lot of heat?
  • G-LO: Slightly oily mouthfeel. Quite hot at the start with a definite pepperiness. Light peat, some powdered sugar and subtle cocoa notes in the middle. When you get to the finish, it heats back up with lots of pepperiness and herbal notes coming through. Also quite dry.

The Verdict

• Limp: This whisky is way too odd for my taste. I’m glad I had the opportunity to try it, but I doubt I’d ever revisit it.
• G-LO: The nose on the Loch Lomond was a bit odd, but definitely intriguing. Really reminds me of the Connemara, or maybe the Ledaig 10. This whisky was really interesting and really fun.

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Single Cask Nation Bunnahabhain 28 Year Old, Cask #7403

Once again, here’s what our friend Josh has to say about this whisky…

And here’s our take…

• Appearance: Ahhhh! The color on this one brings us back to pure liquid gold. So pretty!
• ABV: 51.3%
• Aroma
  • Limpd: Soapy with some syrupy sugars, fennel, latent alcohol vapors and then a weak green tea.
  • G-LO: Super fruity! Dare I say rooty-tooty too? Strawberries and cream (almost Brenne like!), musty grapes, rum raisin ice cream, and a bit of baking spices.
• Taste
  • Limpd: Mild sweetness and subtle vanilla with a heat that builds at mid-palate. There is an increase in intensity, but not to the point that it’s ever overpowering. Just a nice, pleasant dram with a long, enjoyable finish.
  • G-LO: Surprisingly light at first with all of that fruitiness coming through. While there’s a nice bit of heat from start to finish, I think it’s mostly due to the ABV as opposed to any of the actual flavors. The Sherry influence is strong with this one. Dark fruit and baking spice is definitely there. The finish is somewhat dry with lingering Sherry notes.

The Verdict

• Limpd: I’m a big fan of Bunnahabhain and usually have a bottle of the 18 on hand. This one performed as expected. Well done!
• G-LO: While I definitely enjoyed this, I think my expectations were a little high. Overall it’s a somewhat mellow dram which is most likely due to its extra long time spent in the barrel. I liked it overall, but was expecting so much more.

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Many thanks to the fine gentlemen of the Jewish Whisky Company for sending us these very generous samples!