Black Bottle

3 Beginner drams to go, and because of an awesome swap with the really great /u/Allumina[1] , I’m now able to finish it this year.

This isn’t a review for the one he sent me though, this is just a tribute.

Blends and I…. have some issues. I mean, I’ve had great blends, and I know it makes sense when you think about it: Blend together whiskies that are good to make something greater than the sum of it’s parts. I just haven’t… reviewed that many good ones from Scotland, that’s all.

So you’d think that Black Bottle would be a main contender. I mean, it’s inexpensive. They have heritage and have been doing this forever. It’s made up of only Islay whiskies, with drams from almost every distillery on Islay. Which means there could be Laphroaig, Ardbeg, or Bunnhabhain in here! Yay! Or Bowmore!

Damn… nearly sounded perfect there for a second

I bought one of the older, tiny bottles, so you don’t get to see a fancy redesign from the bygone year of 2013, but the juice is still the same, so let’s see how this tastes.

Price: N/A in Ontario

Region: Blend

Abv: 40%

Colour: Yellow

Nose: Smoke, lemon pepper, sour plum, red chili flakes, dust, turnip

Initial blast of smoke, and I get kinda excited, as it’s been awhile since I’ve had something super smoky, and then… nothing.

Turns to turnip and dust. Not fun to sniff. This smells like the way to dusty death.

Taste: Corn, hard candy, anise, smoke, orange, mushroom, dirt

Not bad taste. Not great, as there’s a lot of earth as it breathes more and more, but not bad at first. More earth than what should be there, a little overpowering. Like they are asking the stars to hide their fires, lest you taste any other components or the blenders black and deep desires.

Finish: Peat, vegetal, caramel, sea salt, cocoa

Weak finish. Really weak. Like, all I wrote down was “Weak” after reviewing this one.

You start to get that great Islay flavour profile, and get really excited, and there’s this serpent ready to take your tongue and attack it, and then… it’s just the flower above it.

Conclusion: I think I was expecting something stronger than the sum of its parts, not a Scotch as told by an idiot, all sound and fury, signifying nothing. EDIT: Note that in this case I’m not calling anyone an idiot for enjoying this, or for creating it, I’m merely using a MacBeth quote, like I have throughout, to attempt at playfully note what I’m feeling about it. It’s not meant to hurt anyone’s feelings, and if you enjoy this or any others, that’s okay.

I feel like MacBeth sums up this whisky quite well: It’s an interesting blend, and the concept alone would mean it already has multiple titles; however it over extends itself in creation, and ends up a dirty mess.

Either that or there’s too much Bowmore in there.

62/100

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