Whisky enthusiast always chase the rare, the weird, Springbanks of the whisky world. But sometimes, happiness is under the palm. I had both Abunda and Abunda Alba, and I considered the later too sharp and not sweet enough to my liking. But nowadays, I find it perfectly pleasant in terms of taste and headfeel. Like pineapple syrup. Not a bargain, but also not a bad deal either.
Category: *.BAK
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Black Hole Mikkeler
Mikkeler is a Danish brewery, but confusingly, this one they brew in Belgium
Only after trying it I discovered that Black Hole is what Mikkeler uses for all its imperial stouts. In any case, this was the regular one, not one of the barrel aged ones.
The taste is what a cold brew imperial stout would be like, I’d imagine. Not very sweet, smoky, with almost chili warmth, not sure if it’s honey or ABV.
What I didn’t like is how bitter the aftertaste is. Interesting and complex, but not something I’d buy again. -
Nikka From the Barrel
3rd bottle from the Master of Malt taster set.
I had a bottle of this about 3 years ago. But it still positively surprised me, despite being blended, with no age statement, and all the talk that most of Japanese whisky is just imported Scotch (Ben Nevis, most likely).
It has some of this barley smell, the taste is sweet and quite smooth, finish is almost apple, and warmth very long. -
Commander Farsight
Finished painting it a couple of days ago.
This model absolutely needs to be painted is subassemblies, painting it as a whole was a total pain.
Not only you can’t paint the armpits, the jetpacks also block the back.
I didn’t want to go with the standard scheme, as I find black and white to be too boring. But I just couldn’t find a scheme that would work for the buckler.
Also, I wanted to avoid metalics at first, but nothing else worked, while Balthazar Gold actually did wonders.
Same goes for the sword: at first I tried what worked well for Krittok, but it didn’t look good at all, so I went back to Leadbelcher.
I didn’t have good blues for the plasma effect, so I went for the greens, Tesseract Glow and Hexwraith Flame. Those worked out well enough. -
Vibram Fivefingers Scramkey and Spyridon EVO
I wanted to replace my V-Train (17M6603) for a long time, since, like my FiveFinger often do, they started to tear at the thumb.
The newcomers are Fivefingers Scramkey and Spyridon EVO.
I picked Scramkey precisely for their reinforced thumbs. But they surprised me in other ways too. First, they have two hook-and-loop straps. I’ve seen one, I’ve seen it with shoelaces in V-Train, but I’ve never seen two. Also, that’s the first time I see two heel pull loops instead of one. And considering that the single loop on my V-Train tore off some time ago, I can see why.
Spyridon EVO have very little to do with original Spyridons. They have kind of two layers now, and also the hook-and-loop goes all the way around the ankle.
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Glenallachie 12
Another whisky I wanted to taste from the Master of Malt box. It has that corny smell I associate with Irish whisky, strangely, but the taste is sharply Scotch, sweet and oily, with nice finish. For its price, it’s a good deal. But I’m not after good deals anymore.
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Senja Kolkjerka Imperial Stout
This one I brought from Norway’s Vinmonopolet. It’s very reminiscent of Garun from Iceland. Scandinavian Imperial Stouts have lower ABV, lighter body and less sugar. Still hit like a truck, since it’s 500ml, not 330. But I definitely prefer something more complex.
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Kilkerran 12
I’d be honest, I mostly bought this whisky because it was limited stock, and it was limited stock because it’s Cambletown. Still, here we are.
It smells like Irish whisky, what others call “toast”, and what I call “corn”. Tastes nothing like Irish, though.
There’s a surprising amount of sweetness for a whisky that’s only 30% sherried, and spiciness of the chilli level. Speaking of chilli, it has a lot of warmth on the finish. -
Redbreast 12
Since I already had it in the taster set, I decided to refresh my memory. It’s oily, and has almost corn-like quality. I guess that’s the unmalted barley popping. Suprised me how I finished a bottle of this years ago without noticing.
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Kasteel Donker
Not the rarest of beers, but since I haven’t had it in years, worth mentioning. It is sweet, molasses or demerara sugar, which is amazing for the first few sips. The problem is that it’s not very complex, unlike Imperial Stouts. The last sip is very much like the first. But it does give lightness I haven’t felt in ages.
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Japanese Whisky Advent Calendar
It’s almost July, and Japanese Whisky Advent Calendar is selling for 175GBP, which is below 250GBP, but above 160GBP I paid for it.
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Master of Malt Secret Speyside 15 Father’s Day Edition
I wrote recently about independent bottlings and also about Olorosum bottling from Master of Malt. They released a Father’s Day bottling, and a decently priced tasting set that included it, so I decided to give it a try.
And it’s a good one. Berry&Rudd Speyside 12 level. Malty sweet, with that tart oaky finish, and some nice warmth. Definitely worth 60GBP they’re asking for, although I’m not sure if I want a full bottle in my collection. -
Advent Calendar
15th bottle is Starward Ginger Beer Cask, from Australia. The ginger comes through very strongly. I might not be a fan, but I can understand the appeal. Not for ~100GBP, though, no way.
16th is Tullamore DEW 14 years, and Irish one, bottled at a weird 41.6%. It has nice warmth, but even compared to Redbreast 12, not much flavour. At 56GBP for a bottle, it’s not too expensive, but considering you can get a bottle of Arran at that price, or even aforementioned Redbreast 12, I can’t imagine why anyone would buy this one.
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Northern Monk Oath and Harrogate Best Bitter
I tried another Imperial stout from Northern Monk a few years back. Northern Monk Oath is a bit light for Imperial Stout. Not as sweet or syrupy. But its 8.5% hits like all 10% ABV. For a beer that’s sold in the supermarkets, it’s a bargain.
And Harrogate Best Bitter (not the best name for a beer) we brought from actual Harrogate. And it has a very distinct rye taste, quite flavourful for 4.5% ABV.
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Knife magnet
I’ve been using IKEA knife magnets for years. Don’t remember if I brought the one I had from the old apartment or just bought a second one. But with my knife collection growing, I got a bit tired of scratches from metal on metal. So I decided to buy a wooden knife magnet instead.
It’s a slight disappointment, I must say. For four times the price (IKEA magnet is around 15GBP) the magnets are weaker, and the knives leave marks on the magnet.
I tried varnishing the magnet, but my varnish wasn’t fresh, so the rack ended up being sticky. So I had to scratch everything, buy a new varnish, and do it properly. -
Signatory Whisky Speyside M 16 years
Macallan is a strange whisky. It’s considered to be good, but not good for its price, and it doesn’t have characteristics that are considered to be good, such as 46% ABV. By this point, there’s an entire category of YouTube reviews of “MacCallan alternatives”.
There is a catch, though, which is independent bottlers. I have a bottle from Berry&Rudd which I like, as well as more recent Olorosum and the Dark Fruit Feedback Loop 17 (Balmenach?) from Scotch Whisky Society.
It is rumoured that Signatory independent bottlers buy distillate from Macallan, but do not dilute it like Macallan does. And that’s what Speyside M is. With the emphasis on M: there are just two distilleries in Speyside that start with M, and experts say this ain’t Mortlach. I believe them, since Signatory actually have a bottling from Mortlach, and they say so on the bottle. So it’s either Macallan, or Signatory playing the entire whisky community really well.
I was delaying this bottle, until I discovered it almost entirety disappeared. There are plenty of 14 years around, but not 16. So I did get one of the last ones available.
On the nose, it’s Christmas pudding: molases, dates, figs, raisins, all the sweet and sticky and dark stuff. And tastes as you’d expect: sweet, a bit sour, and with a very long warm finish. The closest I have at the moment is probably the aforementioned Dark Fruit Feedback Loop 17, although Lochlea Cask Strength Batch 2 comes close too. Definitely intesnse at 57% ABV.
Considering that I paid 83GBP for that bottle, and Scotch Whisky Society at that age is around 100GBP, it’s a steal. -
Commander Farsight
This is the only model I wanted to paint when I started painting Warhammer a year and a half ago. And finally I got to it.
I must apologise to Citadel Plastic Glue, it actually works well with Warhammer.
It is larger than I expected, 60mm base, and has around 50 parts.
The really nice bit is that the arms are on those ball bearings, which means you have a lot of flexibility for the pose.
The not so nice bit is that it’s very hard to drybrush. I wish I had drybrushed it separately and combined later, but here we are. -
Aberlour 18 and Bunnahabhain 18
There is a certain irony I write about random whiskey tasters, but sometimes ignore bottles I buy. I’ve had Aberlour 18 for over a year now, although didn’t touch it much, and I recently opened Bunnahabhain 18. Both are great whiskies for their price, although both are slightly subdued from what I had expected.
Aberlour has the slight disappointment of being 43% and chillfiltered on top. But I didn’t learn about it until recently, and honestly hadn’t I known, I would have considered it to be superb. In fact, all the whisky Youtubers are still considering it superb, despite the characteristics. It’s slightly sweet, spicy and complex.
Bunna 18 is more peated than I expected after loving Bunna 12, but still less peated than common Islay whiskies. It’s less sweet that Aberlour 18, although there’s still that, and also slightly savory. I call it “pancakes with bacon and maple”. -
Mikkeller Beer Geek Vanilla Shake
Mikkeller is as much underground as BrewDog there days, so it’s always good to see an Imperial Stout expression from mainstream producer.
It has zero head, full body, like Imperial Stout should. What surprised me were the whisky notes. Turns out, it’s literally whisky infused. Not sure what that means, I understand “barrel ages”, but not “infused”.
At around 9GBP, not cheap, but also not overly expensive. Worth buying. -
Redbreast whisky
I had a bottle of Redbreast 12 from 2020, and I might have pulled it in one of the advent calendars as well. But this time, I decided to get a taster set with Redbreast Lustau and Redbreast 15.
Lustau is smooth and sherries, smells of vanilla, with some oily texture common to Irish whiskies and long warm finish. The closest from Scotch is probably Tamdhu 15. Very pleasant, and for 65GBP, it’s a great value for money, even though it’s a no age statement.
The Redbreast 15 is smooth, as expected from Irish whisky, with vanilla nose, oily mouthfeel, surprising warmth for 46%, a bit of sweetness, and tart aftertaste from oak barrels. For around 92GBP, it’s reasonable, although at the higher end.
If I was to pick one, I would go with Lustau.