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#002 • Lagavulin 16 years

43% alc./vol.
Lagavulin Distillery, Port Ellen, Islay, Scotland

Lagavulin, anglicized Gaelic lag a'mhuilin, which means "valley near the mill", is known for its peat and smoke expressions.

The 16 years of age is the most popular and also the most praised, having deserved among others the double gold medal of the San Francisco World Spirits Competition four consecutive years, from 2005 to 2008 ...

His particular taste and price in SAQ do not make a beginner's tape, but once used I guarantee you that the game is worth the candle ...

Nose:
Peat, moss, smoke, leather, salt air. We imagine tanning leather at the foot of a lighthouse on a coast of the tundra ... The Islay, what ...

If left open, strong iodine scents emerge. I could stay there for hours ...

Taste:
Leather, a little caramel, a little orange, particularly sweet and sweet for an Islay ... Probably due to its aging in sherry / xerès casks.

Finish:
Smoke, lichen, north. Endless, I love.

Balance:
A beautiful complexity, and especially a good progression. All stages of the tasting are linked together and complement each other perfectly. Everything seems exactly in its place, it looks almost like a ritual.

Note: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

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#001 • Glen Breton Rare 10 years old

40% alc./vol.
Glenora Distillery, Nova Scotia, Canada

Why not start with a whiskey from home, in any case what comes closest. When you think of Canadian Whiskey, we often think of skeet whiskeys whose reputation is second to none ... But here is the Glenora distillery which arrives with the first and so far single Canadian malt, the Glen Breton.

Funny fact, the Scotch Whiskey Association sued Glenora for using the word glen (from Gaelic gleann, which means "valley"), which could, according to them, make it wrong to believe that it is a Scotch. In truth Glenora chose this name because the distillery is located in Glenville Cape Breton. But fortunately in 2009 the Supreme Court of Canada has decided on our side ...

Well now that our thirst for knowledge has been quenched, let's get down to business ...

Nose:
Flowers and vanilla. Honey and ginger. A touch of maple (maybe in my head, a subconscious suggestion that it's a Canadian single malt) ...

Taste:
Butterscotch syrupeux. A little soapy. Roundness interesting.

Finish:
Lightly smoked grass ... followed by a hint of maple water. Unfortunately too short ...

Balance:
After having drunk it, one would think to hear in the distance the sound of the straw sucking the bottom of ice from a glass of Coke. It's a sad whiskey ... It's going too fast.

It seems that they make a version aged in casks of ice wine. It's a Cask Strength typically by here I would like to try one day ...

Note: ★★ ★ ★ ★