Fahrenheit 173 - Aged Spirits

Box Pioneer (3 y.o., 48.1%):
The nose is dominated by oak but there are also notes of mint, lemon, orange, white pepper and peat. A little on the young side but the nice fruity notes make up for that. Hope­fully the prominent oak won't overpower the palate and finish! Let's see... The palate is rich, sweet and fruity, also malty and oaky with notes of citrus and mint. Youthful but rather nice. The finish is oaky, peppery and a little hot but it also has a refreshing note of citrus. All in all it's very mature for its age. More-ish. An impressive first effort! The use of small casks (and partly new oak) has made it quite oaky but luckily not too oaky. A little hot without water but adding water reveals more of the youthful character. Best neat. (86 p)

Spirit of Hven Seven Stars #2 "Merak" (45%):
The nose is quite oaky (oak shavings) with an unusual but in­ter­est­ing note of juniper berries. Also notes of candy, spices, vanilla and caramelized sugar. Also a little peat. Complex and mature. The palate is rich, sweet and smooth with orange and quite a bit of oak (oak shavings again). A bit unusual but rather nice. De­velops vanilla and even more oak. The finish is oaky and spicy yet nice with notes of cinnamon and citrus. Lingering notes of oak and peat. All in all it's impressively complex and mature but doesn't have much malt character (tastes more like a blend than a single). It also has a slightly perfumy oak character (from new oak, I suspect). That said, it's smooth and more-ish and I quite like it! (But I suspect malt purists won't) (86 p)

Smögen Primör (3 y.o., 63.7%):
The nose is young and power­ful, very malty with wood smoke and a note of engine oil. Also new oak and unusual, wine-like fruity notes. Splintered and rough with a still noticeable new make character. The palate is young, too, but more bal­anced and much nicer. It has lots of malt and peat smoke, nicely offset by light, fresh notes of mint and citrus. Also a herbal note of new oak. Sweet, fruity and enjoyable. The finish has peat and malt, of course, but also fresh notes of mint and vanilla. Nice! All in all it's big, peaty and power­ful. Well crafted but a little immature. (Improved a lot after being open for a few months) (82 p)

Five single malts from Cadenhead's
A review of Ardmore 1997, Balblair 1990, Glen Moray 1992, Strathisla 1987 and Strathmill 1995.

World whisky
A review of single malts from the Czech Republic, England, Germany, India, Sweden and Taiwain.

Six Irish whiskeys
A review of Green Spot, Yellow Spot, Tullamore Dew 12, Redbreast 12, Powers John's Lane and Midleton Barry Crockett Legacy.

Four single malts and a single grain from Cadenhead's
A review of Girvan 1979 (single grain), Glencraig 1981, Glen Elgin 1991 (rum cask), Highland Park 1985 and Royal Lochnagar 1996 (rum cask).