North Star Spirits is a bottler that may be a little underrepresented on this weblog. They appear to deal with sure markets, or perhaps our networks are simply completely different. I simply don’t come accross their bottlings typically, which is a disgrace as their Vega 40 12 months Outdated and Glen Keith 1993 had been fairly glorious.
Listed here are two whiskies that I picked up in Holland, a 2011 Glenfarclas and 2012 Bunnahabhain.
Glenfarclas 11 yo 2011 (56,5%, North Star Spirits 2023, Oloroso sherry butt, 402 btl.)
Nostril: properly fragrant sherry, reminding us of the Glenfarclas 105 fashion some fifteen years in the past. Caramelized pecans, raisins, pink apples and a few raspberry jam. Some darkish espresso within the background, but in addition a extra trendy trace of oak varnish and inexperienced wooden. Then honeyed malt and hints of gingerbread.
Mouth: fairly punchy, mixing cherries and blackberries with ginger and nutmeg. This strikes in direction of darkish chocolate, roasted nuts, raisins and occasional beans. Then additionally walnuts and brown sugar with a leafy component. Delicate clove with some oak char in the long run.
End: pretty lengthy, with black pepper, mocha and ginger popping out, together with pink fruits.
Actually good. These are the type of casks we’d prefer to see from Glenfarclas, however prior to now few years they appear to be more durable to seek out. Particularly with the precise distillery title on the label – though I’ve heard the distillery has taken motion in opposition to NSS for this explicit bottling and even in opposition to retailers promoting it… Nonetheless accessible from Whiskysite.nl.
Bunnahabhain 10 yo 2012 (58,2%, North Star Spirits 2023, bourbon barrel, 227 btl.)
Nostril: loads of salty leather-based and extinguished bonfire. Good hints of fisherman’s nets and light-weight menthol within the distance. Then seaweed, hints of tar and smoked / glazed bacon, together with espresso and burnt grasses.
Mouth: now a very good dose of vivid citrus flavours to counter the bonfire smoke, tarry notes and roasted nuts. stability between candy and savoury notes, with loads of grilled parts. The official tasting notes appear to say marihuana as properly – okay then.
End: lengthy, with extra black pepper popping out. Chocolate and smoke too, with some caramel sweetness.
Additionally actually good. Maybe not probably the most advanced whisky (nonetheless younger) but it surely affords loads of Islay heat. It could have been good if the spirit fashion had been talked about on the label (Moine maybe?), simply to set clear expectations for a distillery that has a number of profiles. This one is on the market from TyndrumWhisky as an example. Rating: 86/100
