Review by: ZoidbergOnTheRocks
I got a bunch of random minis on an auction many years ago, all of them stupidly cheap, and I never got around to really sitting down and trying them. I’ve recently been forcing myself to work through them, so here’s a review of a selection of them. The sample isn’t so random here: it’s the first 5 in alphabetical order.
Tasted on 10/10/2020, each neat in a Glencairn.
The Arran Malt aged 14 years, 46% ABV in a 5cl mini. States non chill filtered on the label, which is nice. As with most of my random mini collection I have no firm info on when this was bottled, but based on the label design I’ll go with ~2010. The labeling isn’t current, nor is the expression.
Distillery: Arran
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Islands
ABV: 46.0%
Age: 14 years old
Nose: bright fruit, banana, vanilla, sweet, slightly floral and grassy, light cinnamon.
Taste: caramel, banana, vanilla, a little sweet, a bit of that cinnamon, rather oily and thick mouthfeel.
Finish: pepper, caramel, fruity with banana and perhaps some citrus now, a touch salty, still oily, rather long actually.
Well this is a surprise! I’ve never had Arran before, and this is a real treat. Excellent oily mouthfeel, bright and clean nose and flavor, long pleasant finish with no off-notes at all. This isn’t my typical flavor profile, but I’m digging it. It’s a bit simple, but very good. Are any of the current Arran expressions similar? I kinda want to find out now!
Final Score: 82.
Benromach 12 years old, 40% ABV in a 5cl mini. It says bottled by G&M on it so it’s after 1993, but otherwise no info on the date, color, or filtering. It looks quite like some bottles around 2000ish, so I’m going with that unless someone knows better.
Distillery: Benromach
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Speyside
ABV: 40.0%
Age: 12 years old. Bottled in 1996.
Nose: dark caramel, mushy apples, shoe polish.
Taste: thin, caramel, bad apples, a tiny hit of pepper, tannic.
Finish: bad apples, wood dust, something musty like a mouse nest, a little light pepper, tannins, mercifully short.
Well, that sucks. I’m not gonna hold this old mini against Benromach, but wow, I hope this isn’t representative of their current stuff at all.
Final Score: 55.
Blair Athol pure malt scotch whisky, 8 years old, 70 proof. This matches other late-80’s minis and packaging. Very low fill level on this one: below the shoulder. Is this still good? No idea, let’s find out.
Distillery: Blair Athol
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Highlands
ABV: 70%
Age: 8 years old
Nose: subtle, caramel, wet fall leaves, tangerine, crisp apple, a hint of light smoke, a bit of plastic.
Taste: caramel, vanilla, burnt toast, very thin and watery, a touch of tangerine.
Finish: toasted caramel, a little tangerine, a slight touch of ginger, and it’s gone quickly.
This is very subtle all around, and very, very simple. There’s not much going on at any point, and it’s pretty unremarkable: caramel, a very little bit of fruit, and toasted/burnt notes. Was this typical for them at the time, or has the age and storage of this mini made it worse? I have no idea. Like other one-off old minis, I won’t let this turn me off to Blair Athol, but I hope their current stuff has a lot more going on than this.
Final Score: 65.
Cardhu 12 years old, 40% ABV in an oddly shaped mini which resembles their current full-sized bottle shapes. No info color, or filtering. Labeling is a little different, but it’s easy to find a current Cardhu 12 and this one looks like a lot of the minis in WhiskyBase. Guessing this is ~2010 or so.
Distillery: Cardhu
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Speyside
ABV: 40.0%
Age: 12 years old
Nose: vanilla, malt, a touch of orange, ethanol.
Taste: honey, a little pepper, malt, some orange, feels a bit hot for it’s ABV, very thin.
Finish: malt, caramel, a touch of pepper, short.
This isn’t bad, but it’s largely unremarkable. I can’t think of much to say about it besides malt, caramel, and sweet. There aren’t any off-notes in it, but by the same token it’s just lacking for notes period. Boring.
Final Score: 72.
Dalwhinnie 15 years old, 43% ABV in a short 5cl mini. No info on coloring or filtering. The labeling matches the late 80’s or early 90’s. The fill level is low: down to mid-shoulder on this little guy, so I hope everything’s going alright in there.
I previously had a bottle of their distillers edition bottled in 2014, and I have a note that says “This was just so unremarkable. Disappointing.” So I’m curious to see if this changes my mind at all. Place your bets.
Distillery: Dalwhinnie
Bottler: Distillery Bottling
Region: Scotland, Highlands
ABV: 43.0%
Age: 15 years old
Nose: light smoke, fruit on fresh apples and peaches, vanilla, toffee, a bit of cedar, allspice, walnuts, hints of liquorice.
Taste: light wood smoke, pepper, toffee, some fruit, a bit creamy, seems a bit hot for it’s ABV, thin.
Finish: honey, very light wood smoke, apples, toffee, liquorice, surprisingly decent length, slightly drying, a bit tannic on the end.
Another nice surprise, this is much better than I expected it to be. It’s reasonably complex, perhaps the best of the bunch in that respect, with quite a nice nose. A nice touch of light wood smoke throughout was unexpected, and it’s pretty well balanced.
Final Score: 82.
Comparison
Order: Arran > Dalwhinnie > Cardhu > Blair Athol > Benromach
Both the Arran 14 and the Dalwhinnie 15 are very good. Their profiles are pretty different, and which one is better comes down more to my mood at the time than anything else. The Arran is a bit simple, but bright and clean with a lovely mouthfeel. The Dalwhinnie is a bit more complex and offers a broader range of notes, but the mouthfeel is thin and it comes off as a bit hot being a lower ABV. I keep picking up the Arran, so there it is.
Ordering the rest of the group is obvious.
Scoring Legend:
- 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
- 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
- 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
- 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
- 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
- 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
- 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
- 50-59: Save it for mixing.
- 0-49: Blech.
Malt Runners 