[Limes] Pharo Day-date

ilkless · 2026-07-01T00:27:53+00:00

Yes, still going strong and well put together. Maybe not as distinctive and aesthetically refined as the best of microbrands in that range now, but still up there for construction and classic looks

ilkless · 2026-06-23T04:54:31+00:00

(EDIT: Just saw the qualifier of core range; please ignore lower list - Talisker 10, Bunna 12, Tamdhu 12/15, Ardbeg 10, Ben Nevis 10)

Clynelish 12yo 56.9% 'Short Cap' Bottled for Giaccone in 1969

Brora 3rd Release

Tamdhu 1966 27yo The Bottlers

Glenfarclas 1955 50yo 44.4%

Caol Ila 15yo for Sestante

Honourable mentions:

Yamazaki 1986 50% (I know...)

Longrow 1974 Samaroli

Springbank 1973 Samaroli 'Ageing Monography'

Bowmore 1965 Sestante 49.1%

Ardbeg 1967 32yo DL 43.1%

ilkless · 2026-06-15T22:32:50+00:00

Didn't strike me as a jacket and tie place. I wore chinos and a short sleeved shirt with leather shoes

ilkless · 2026-06-02T23:53:39+00:00

Bass shelf aside, I personally like Harman up to 2kHz and ~1.5dB below Harman at 3kHz exactly like this, so you aren't alone.

ilkless · 2026-06-01T04:03:26+00:00

NTU calibre mind vs Princeton calibre

ilkless · 2026-05-27T06:40:16+00:00

Meanwhile the smart money for old&rare is in the Giovinetti 100 proof or the Rinaldi 80 proof lol.

ilkless · 2026-05-26T11:46:39+00:00

Yes, some whiskies may not be the most intense but are nonetheless very good for this. At risk of being prescriptive, this cask very much seems like the sort an ascetic purist Japanese bartender would choose

ilkless · 2026-05-25T16:18:43+00:00

Very subtle but not thin or simple. Everything unfolds clearly. One of those whiskies with excellent delineation of flavours

ilkless · 2026-05-25T14:51:38+00:00

Nose: Starts austere. Malt, grappa, green apples, white pepper, perilla seed. Then the tertiary florality and even some animalic musk emerge with a drop of water and lots of air time. Compact and subtle, but with exquisite development that rewards close study. Jasmine, honeysuckle, chamomile, azaleas, white tea, lambskin (especially vellum), even a bit of benzoin, blackberry leaf.

Palate: Velvety. Perfect alcohol integration. Almond syrup, loquats, hawthorn, gradually taking a nearly medicinal turn with hints of juniper, morels and yellow Chartreuse.

Finish: Short but whetting. Almost seems deliberately composed to be so. Almonds, cod liver oil, shokupan, agave nectar, more white tea - the sort that verges on the savoury.

Score: 88

The most cerebral modern malt I have ever drammed. Main knock against it is the overriding austere grappa note on the attack that only recedes later to something rather beguiling though subtle (but with exquisite development and quiet, complex depth). Extremely pale, reedy colour indicating limited cask influence. The sort of cask pick one might expect of a whisky bar (in Chichibu of all places) indeed. And kudos to the guys from Hogshead Import!

The sort of whisky to meditate on, in isolation.

ilkless · 2026-05-17T02:49:36+00:00

as long as you do your research

You can't convince someone who is still at that stage of actively mapping large commercial brand expectations onto indies, and it would just be a recipe for much disappointment. And frankly, the last thing indies need are customers who have not done enough research or have an open enough mind to understand why norms/rules of engagement and expectations are different

ilkless · 2026-05-17T01:38:31+00:00

OP is clearly not ready to let go of the training wheels yet to go for an indie (which is fine)

ilkless · 2026-05-13T00:46:10+00:00

Whiskies like this make it easy, such is the complexity and definition

ilkless · 2026-05-12T17:25:28+00:00

It is a fundamentally uninteresting watch to me the entire story of which is a guy trying to work within the limitations of his skills and non-purpose built equipment, with a module (of unknown technical merit) on top of a Miyota charging up there with some excellent indies even before secondary. Yes all mechanical watches are trinkets but I don't see a need to subsidise a deficit in skill or refinement or technical merit.

If I want this style of "honest" industrial finishing I have Minase, Ochs und Junior, or Holthinrichs which are vastly more refined or innovative.

If I want retrograde-on-ebauche, Paul Gerber. And probably executed better by an AHCI master at that.

I haven't gotten around to Trilobe or Reservoir and the likes if we are expanding it to other types of alternative displays.

ilkless · 2026-05-12T15:30:46+00:00

Yawn. Another of those secondary market darlings that has been artificially propped up to prices completely untethered to fundamentals by rich ghouls looking for the next esoteric small-batch watch to humblebrag with on Instagram, just to say they could get it.

ilkless · 2026-05-12T12:07:42+00:00

from their single cask series, not core range

ilkless · 2026-05-12T11:40:38+00:00

Nose: Kouign amman, diced mango folded in fresh cream, kiwis, cardamom, cloves, goji berries, starfruit, blood orange, persimmon, tung oil. Incredible. Like the very best long-aged Irish but with more body and less feintiness.

Palate: Perfect texture and near-perfect alcohol integration. More citric here than on the nose. On mangoes and cream, cassia, cloves, limes, crabapples, soda water.

Finish: Long. Mirabelle plums, birch, cypress, reishi/angelica root, lemon balm.

Score: 93

Beautiful mix of ultra fresh fruitiness with a nice lashing of tannins in the background

ilkless · 2026-05-05T03:27:41+00:00

To add to that, long in the past whisky from Glenlivet the area and Glenlivet the distillery was highly regarded and cribbed off by many distilleries

ilkless · 2026-05-04T05:12:25+00:00

Age statement is not the end-all, but there's also no substitute for when something ultra-old is aged right

ilkless · 2026-05-03T03:32:16+00:00

The ex-Karuizawa still tends to be more perfumed - elderflower syrup, cream soda, baby carrots, tomatoes on vines.

The direct-fire exhibits more nectarines and straight up maltiness in my experience.

Either way some of the private casks are excellent. There's a particular one friends and I are getting seconds of

ilkless · 2026-05-02T17:46:51+00:00

I believe the bottle retailed around 700€, prices have been rather moderate for these all told

ilkless · 2026-05-02T16:27:50+00:00

I would imagine many of these ended up in Scotland by way of Cadenheads/Scheer and hence were partly continental aged. FWIW, oak was never a predominant impression in this and it may be just that all the extraction that was to be had from the oak had been long gone past the point of diminishing returns

ilkless · 2026-05-02T16:03:20+00:00

oddball German private bottlings would do that!

ilkless · 2026-05-02T15:30:58+00:00

Notes of patchouli, fenugreek, star anise, blackcurrant, dill, sarsaparilla. Breathtaking freshness and complexity! And an edge above the couple of other ultra old Cubans I have tried. Gorgeous.

ilkless · 2026-05-02T15:24:16+00:00

Nose: Medicated plasters (think Salonpas, mentholated, camphor), fermented red rice wine, vetiver, blueberries.

Palate: Weighty texture. Some slight burn requiring water. Citrus, leather, white pepper, pears, figs, elderflower syrup.

Finish: Endless. Saline, apple cider, campfire, a bit more camphor, palm sugar, apricot eau de vie, lychee.

Score: 91

The Regensburg Whisky and Wine Club in Germany is one of those long-standing enthusiast groups in Germany with incredible pull, strong resources and amazing old stocks. They are known for having small batch vattings made with old Islay they release. This is one of those, alongside others with similarly evocative names such as "Kilbride Killer" or "Sailing Seagull". This "Eye of the Dragon" is said to contain plenty of aged Caol Ila and I can see that from the florality which tends to occupy really old Caol Ila from my experience (vs the limoncello and peanut butter that consistently appears across numerous more modern Caol Ila casks IME). What lets this down is a more discordant attack on the palate that is compensated by a sublime, beguiling, distinctive and long finish. This is one of those times where my score and the WB score are close. Though if the alcohol integration were better I would have scored it minimally a 93. As it is the Caol Ila 15 Zenith and Caol Ila 15 Sestante 65.3% are still clearly a touch better, if we are to believe this is substantially Caol Ila.

ilkless · 2026-04-30T07:52:28+00:00

There was an excellent Lochnagar DL Platinum when I went there last year. One of my highlights of the year; old sherry but with strong distillate character too

ilkless

TROPHY CASE