NOSE: Fresh summer fruit salad drizzled with lavender honey, wildflowers with hints of cream and spices. The nose is quite sweet and delicate. This would be fantastic at a higher abv, but that can be experienced in the several special editions or independent bottlings available for those willing to do some sleuthing. Altogether it’s a solid bottle to start off a beginner’s journey into single malts. Oily on the palate. Oranges dominate, supported by sweet malt, spices, roasted nuts and hay. Vanilla steps in to replace the caramel. Mildly drying. The first time I heard the term used in a wine store, the salesman was using it on a customer, I almost busted out laughing right in front of them. The customer must have felt like a jerk, afterall his mere pallet only qualified for the ‘entry level’ wine, he probably walked away thinking that his holiday dinner at home which he was buying the wine for was – well just an entry level dinner too, poor guy.

So far i have tried the Talisker, Dalwhinnie 15yo and glenkinchie 12 and have enjoyed them all with the talisker being the stand out so far.Regardless of whether the Service offers the functionality to contribute, you are solely responsible and liable for any content and information that you create, upload, post, publish, link to, duplicate, transmit, record, display or otherwise make available on the Service or to other Members, such as chat messages, text messages, videos, audio, audio recordings, music, pictures, photographs, text and any other information or materials, whether publicly posted or privately transmitted (“Contributions”). The taste is quite light compared to the scent, mixing honey with a basket of nutty flavors. The finish starts off a little peppery, and rolls out into pleasant, smoky warmth. It’s a pleasant, and only slightly complex sipper, just the sort of thing for a go-to single malt for everyday drinking or to use as a starter or next step Scotch. So than, why the big difference in price, simple marketing and to a lesser degree demand. Either of which topics are outside the scope of this conversation. The following indicators should be taken as only a guide and not a set of hard and fast rules. Some "premium" whiskeys really are quite terrible, while some mass market products are good enough to pour into a decanter and serve to the Duke of Edinburgh. A+: A masterpiece and one of the ten best whiskeys of its type. Above five stars. B and B-: Good and above average. The best of the mass market whiskeys fit in this category, as do the bulk of the premium brands. A B- is three stars.

The Craggenmore 12 is as every bit as good as any 12 scotch 2 or 3 times it’s price, or for that matter any price. Nose: Sweet, floral and very traditionally Speyside. Pangs of orange peels and citrus start us off on our journey and are joined by light apples and stone fruit. The sherried elements provide toffee and caramel and are supported by delicate florals – heather and a touch of menthol. There’s a hint of ginger cake, barley and roasted nuts here which provide some additional depth. But to add to the equation, there really isn’t much room for adding any great expense in making scotch – barely, water, barrels, age it…..they all do it bascially the same with the same costs. maybe a sherry barrel instead of a burbon, a little difference in labor cost, but it’s all pretty much the same. That’s not to say all scotch comes out tasting the same – it obviously doesn’t, but we can contribute that to water, processing, years, age, etc. Nothing in the Terms shall exclude or limit our liability for fraudulent misrepresentation or for death or personal injury resulting from gross negligence or willful misconduct by us.Unless mandatory applicable law provides otherwise, your use of and membership to the Service are exclusively governed by Dutch law. We shall first try to settle any dispute over a dram of whisky. Disputes that cannot be settled over multiple drams of whisky shall be solely submitted to the court of Amsterdam, The Netherlands unless mandatory applicable law provides otherwise. Nose: Lemon peel, Conference pear and rhubarb and custard sweets lead, with tanned leather, sandalwood and a hint of earthy peat in support. With water, there’s grilled pineapple, marmalade, soft toffee and a hint of green cardamom add depth.