The Octomore 13.2
The Malt Impostor
by John
1y ago
Tasting notes: This opens up with notes of burned bacon and taffeta from a post-prom bonfire brunch that went, in the memorable patois of Chad, “oogie.”  We also find honey from killer bees, the key element in an aggressive syrup for the uneaten waffles now cooling on earthenware plates.  Singed pine needle incense tickles the nose and invites a closer look. On the mouth we get a sluiceful of machine oil and heavy water used to rinse out a collectible transistor radio tuned to Pavarotti’s performance of “Nessun dorma.”  Roasted lemon rinds used for scrawling lurid cave images h ..read more
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The Limavady Single Barrel Single Malt Irish Whiskey
The Malt Impostor
by John
1y ago
Tasting notes: On the nose, we find freshly cut lemon wedges smeared with pomegranate butter. But that’s not all. We find grapefruit-encrusted daisy petals, and cinnamon toast sprinkled with lava ash and alstroemeria. Above all the fruity and the floral are wrapped together like a caduceus in which the understudies–in this case, a stoat and a mongoose–got star billing. The mouth is creamy and satisfying, but still feisty. Think of a pesto turned almost white with the addition of mascarpone cheese; there’s liveliness and brio, but also smooth silkiness. As we reflect further, we see again the ..read more
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The Glen Wyvis 2018-2021 Member’s Release Batch 1
The Malt Impostor
by Bill
1y ago
Tasting notes: The GlenWyvis 2018-21 Member’s Release Batch 1 at 50% abv, is a hard dram to come by! In 2016, by the Ben Wyvis mountain in Dingwall (all of which, I admit, sounds like somewhere out of The Rings of Power), the first community-owned distillery opened its doors. Stephen, via threats, blackmail, and <deleted*>, managed to obtain a bottle of the first release of GlenWyvis, which was made available only to the 3,000 shareholders. Since it’s Stephen who’s looking at gaol time, I pronounce it a worthy sacrifice! * The Malt Impostor barristers on retainer forbid us from ta ..read more
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The Adelphi Selection Dailuaine 14 Year Old (54.1%)
The Malt Impostor
by Stephen
1y ago
Tasting notes: On the nose, this 14 Year Old Dailuaine from Adelphi presents with notes of anise flan and copper gutters after a spring rain, but not together, because anise flan in a copper gutter after a spring rain is simply too improbable. It’s also simultaneously fudge-y and floral, like someone bred tonka beans and vanilla beans, then used the resulting franken-bean with perfumed rose petals to make a penuche fudge–and then served it in a dish from your grandmother’s powder room. At first, John misheard “penuche” as “Belushi” and followed up with the obvious question: “John or Jim?” Thi ..read more
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The Lagavulin Distiller’s Edition 2020 Release
The Malt Impostor
by John
1y ago
[Editor’s note: Today is the Malt Impostor’s 13th Maltiversary! And on this maltiversary, like our first, we celebrate it by having John review a Lagavulin Distiller’s Edition. Enjoy!] Tasting notes: This ruby dram noses up with peat smoke, machine grease, crumpled shop rags, oil-soaked seabird wings, and a putrefying starfish in a tidal pool.  I look at Bill and Bill looks at me and we both know it without saying it.  This is Stephen’s love language.  More nosing reveals an oat scone jammed into a toaster that didn’t pop up.  We jimmy it out with a jam knife to find ..read more
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The Gordon & MacPhail Connoisseur’s Choice 1997 Balblair 23 Year Old
The Malt Impostor
by Bill
1y ago
Tasting notes: The Gordon & MacPhail Connoisseur’s Choice Balblair 1997 23 Year Old, 56.2%, explodes out of my glass like a champion 3 year old horse—juiced on steroids, amphetamines, rocket fuel—that was startled by air horns blasted by impish barely pubescent adolescents larking around. I poured it into my glass, set my glass down, and from across the Malt Table, it announced its presence like Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction. This whisky will not be ignored! The actual nose, rather than the metaphoric impression of the aromas leaping out of the glass, center on unsalted roast ..read more
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The Castle & Key Restoration Rye Batch 2 (2020 Release)
The Malt Impostor
by Stephen
2y ago
Tasting notes: This 49.5% rye is not an easy one to find in the wild. I got lucky and stumbled upon one in Memphis, Tennessee, and enjoyed it mostly in nicely iced Old Fashioneds that provided considerable relief from the sweltering summer heat there. But on a later, rather joyful occasion, we had the chance to taste it properly as a rye whiskey with all three of us present in the same room. Being in such a setting can certainly tilt one’s judgment in a dram’s favor. Nonetheless, we tried to be impartial. For us, the nose opens with green pepper foam from a gastronomi ..read more
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The Rock Island 21 Year Old Limited Edition Blended Malt (Douglas Laing)
The Malt Impostor
by Bill
2y ago
Tasting notes: Before we begin, a Zoom-era amusing anecdote about this dram. Since Stephen moved to Norway, our meetings have been on FaceTime or Zoom. Since the pandemic, many meetings transpire with the three of us in different undisclosed locations, creating, at times, logistical complexities involving blind tastings of small samples. This particular time, an unidentified Impostor mislabeled two of the samples! In particular, my sample of this one, the peaty Douglas Laing Rock Island 21 Year Old, was mislabeled as a particularly sherried dram. As we were sipping and chattering away, I was ..read more
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The Aerolite Lyndsay 10 Year Old
The Malt Impostor
by John
2y ago
Tasting notes: Ah, there it is.  That delicious Islay nose.  Scrumptious.  And then the memories flood in.  But in this case, instead of a crumbled madeleine, this is a Claymore mine stuffed with Bosna sandwiches that spray out with blasted-up clods of peat.  In my disorientation, I think I see a wolverine covered in day-spa facial mud leaping into a slightly slimy green pond.  But now it’s all a kaleidoscope of smells.  S’mores with no chocolate, the marshmallow rippled with carbonized sugar and graham cracker crumbs.  Then there are hints of ..read more
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The Balblair 1983-2014
The Malt Impostor
by Stephen
2y ago
Tasting notes: The nose of this dram opens with rosewater-soaked dates visited by Nepalese honey bees. It’s very high and refined, but raises a question: who are the sherpa bees on such an expedition? As the nose goes, it gets more subtle and more distinguished, but yet more intense. Imagine barium and chromium oil paints, but with distinctive berry notes, like cloudberry. This is the smell of a library from the perspective of an autodidact. It’s all refinement, spun flax mixed with silk, and beautiful endpapers.   The mouth, however, is straight magic. We get liquefied pearls with ..read more
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