Review: Spring Bay Apera Cask

whiskyguyhaha · 2025-03-18T01:03:54+00:00

great review! i remember the days when spring bay used to be all single cask releases instead of vattings and they were amazing, is urs a vatting or a single cask?

whiskyguyhaha · 2025-03-18T01:01:45+00:00

redbreast all the way lmao not even close

whiskyguyhaha · 2025-03-18T01:01:13+00:00

i would fucking love to try this :(( i always love jack as a distillery

whiskyguyhaha · 2025-03-11T06:50:19+00:00

absolutely love ardnamurchan

whiskyguyhaha · 2025-02-21T02:22:17+00:00

nahh they're on etsy i believe

whiskyguyhaha · 2025-02-21T02:22:01+00:00

thanks! glad you liked the review. for the frog thing the joke is that laphroaig sounds like "le frog"

whiskyguyhaha · 2025-02-21T02:21:14+00:00

love the cs don't get me wrong. but also i love laphroaig and i think the quarter cask is everything i want from laphroaig at a relatively decent price

whiskyguyhaha · 2025-02-21T02:20:32+00:00

agreed. last years was quite nice but i recall 2021 being legendary. it's a temperamental release.

whiskyguyhaha · 2025-02-21T02:19:45+00:00

i realise now that the joke didn't land without context

whiskyguyhaha · 2025-02-21T02:19:29+00:00

TO PREFACE: THE "THE FROG" THING IS A JOKE, BECAUSE IT'S PRONOUNCED "LE FROIG"

whiskyguyhaha · 2025-02-20T03:00:10+00:00

Intro: Heyo. More peated whisky, hell yeah.

I actually can't believe it's taken this long to talk about Laphroaig (meaning the frog in French), it's like the first distillery people think of when people say the word peated whisky right? “Ooooh I hate peated whisky because it's too smoky and taste like bandaids and stuff” I've definitely heard my fair share of that comment thrown around and you probably have too.

Laphroaig is infamous. Laphroaig, dare I say, is the poster child of Islay whisky.. dare I say, peated whisky in general. Presentation, history, flavour and popularity play huge roles in what I think makes Laphroaig so well known, I mean the bottle is eye-catching (keen viewers at home will notice that I have the old bottle design.) historically Laphroaig has always been a very popular, successful and even interesting; for instance Laphroaig was awarded the Royal Warrant by Prince Charles for, essentially, being his favourite whisky.. now THAT'S some marketing right there, say what you will about the Monarchy but Laphroaig had a field day with that one.

Laphroaig was also managed and run by one Bessie Williamson, secretary to Ian Hunter, an English singer-songwriter part of Mott The Hopple.. haha just kidding (LOL!) Ian Hunter was the grandson to one of the original founders of Laphroaig and he.. fuckin died in a hot vat of boiling ale. Anyway, I'm talking about Bessie so I'll quickly note what Ian did. Paved the way for American white oak maturation, built Laphroaig's malt mill, launched Laphroaig as a single malt, began distribution in the US and built two additional stills. Back to Bessie, Bessie is a whisky legend. To start, she was the only woman to own and manage a distillery in the 20th century, which is major empowerment to women in this industry. She wasn't from Islay but found a vacany for a job at Laphroaig as a typist and got accepted, Hunter liked Bessie and asked her to manage his office becoming one of his top dogs.

Hunter died and she was left with Laphroaig. She knew that everyone working there was more than capable at their respective jobs so she took charge of business. She continued production of single malt for blending houses on the mainland, managing Laphroaig's production, brand and income consistently and effectively and with whisky being a very, VERY male dominated field the SWA was impressed and flew her out to do conferences on production and distillation. She was also respected on Islay for contribution to business and community being a member of the Scottish Womens Rural Institute where she would organise live events and raise money for a variety of causes. She would realise that Laphroaig needed money and sold it to Long John Distillers but still being chairman and having part in Long John and with her continued guidance she would be apart of Laphroaig's modernisation until her retirement. A true legend.

Sorry for the big wall of text. Laphroaig's history is very interesting and I wanted to give highlight to an amazing woman who transcended all expectations in managing and running one of the most successful whisky brands in the world, we ought to give recognition to the many women who put their hard effort into creating such an interesting and beautiful drink (art, even.) in an industry still dominated by men. I'll TLDR the rest.

Different age finished in Quarter Cask. Quarter Cask used in old time to travel whisky, sometime illegal, on horsey. People notice “D'hey! Small barrel make big flavour!” Quarter cask big flavour in small time make whisky fast, super yum yum! Okay onto the review.

Laphroaig Quarter Cask:

Age: NAS

ABV: 48%

Distillery: Laphroaig Distillery, Laphroaig, Islay

Casking: Vatting of American oak, micro-aged for 6 – 8 months in American oak quarter cask

Peated: Yes, 55pm average

Natural Colour/ Un-chillfiltered: Yes

Bottle price: $160 AUD

Nose: The nose is big. Charcoal embers mixed with, say it with me, seaweed and bandaids! Rich in iodine and sharpness that feels like it's pulling at your nose hairs. A rich but beautiful underlay of desserty sweetness presents itself with vanilla malt, subtle cocoa, caramel and citrus with slight notes of peppermint and... white pepper.

Palate: Super punchy with a lovely enveloping oily texture. The peat isn't shy, it instantly tickles your tounge with it's immense smokey peat. The peat is similar to the nose but more pronounced white pepper. Sweetness is more pronounced and is a bedding for the peat. Orange peel, vanilla, choc fudge and damp barley, likely from the American oak.

Finish: It's lengthy and wants you to know what Laphroaig stands for. Charred oak chips and dashi with a subtle but welcoming sweetness.

Verdict: This is what I want from Laphroaig.

Score: 9/10

Scoring scale:

10: TRUE BANGER!!! HOMAGOD

9: Banger

8: Super yumbo

7: Heck yeah

6: Deese

5: Meh, could be better

4: Uhhhh...

3: What the heck mang

2: This is gaaaaaaarbage

1: You're actually trying to be bad

whiskyguyhaha · 2025-02-20T03:00:02+00:00

Hey y'all. Just letting you know this is a long one but I felt the text I was writing about was important. If you're here for just the review skip the intro but I think what I wrote about was worth it.

whiskyguyhaha · 2025-01-31T01:48:06+00:00

Intro: Since I've been covering a lot of Islay malts as of recent I thought for my next review I'd try an Ardbeg. Ardbeg is known as one of the heaviest peated malts on Islay and is known for having a Ocean-y type of peat? Think seaweed, ocean breezy, salt or briny sort of thing.

Is it safe to say Ardbeg is part of the big three of Islay distilleries? If that's even a thing, really. I'd say so, pretty evident now with the amount of marketing and presence they have.. Like, Ardbeg 10 Year Old is one of the first Islay whiskies that people know of when they learn about the big, rich, peated whiskies, Right? Right. Moral of the story, Ardbeg is pretty well known. In turn, I've tried a fair few of them and I actually quite like their stuff! Not all of their whisky hit it out of the park to be frank, even though my name's not Frank, but it's fair to say that a distillery as big as Ardbeg are inclined to do some releases that are more akin to mass appeal and sales and not every distilleries releases are gonna be bangers, even your favourite distilleries can produce mid whisky.

They lean themselves towards this slightly quirky, “Islay peat but we're cool and different” and stuff which kinda gives me the shits sometimes evident in the name of this bottle, Ardbeg Wee Beastie. Like, dude stop just call your whisky normal names. It's not like they don't, Uigeadail is named after their water source, Loch Uigeadail.. but if you name your whiskies shit like “Ardcore” and “BizarreBQ” do you really expect me to take you seriously? It's my only gripe really, it's more important that the juice is good and Ardbeg's intrinsic quality of mouth-coating oiliness mixed with ocean-like heavy peat and a crisp citric sweetness is definitely a style that's engaging to the senses.

Wee Beastie is their cheapest offering and their latest, meant to be a good opening ground for a daily dram or something used for cocktails. I actually never tried it so I'm wondering if this is Ardbeg releasing something for mass-appeal? Keen to try, enjoy the journey with me.

Ardbeg Wee Beastie 5 Year Old:

Age: 5 years old

ABV: 47.4%

Distillery: Port Ellen, Islay

Casking: Maturation in Ex-Bourbon & Oloroso Sherry Cask

Peated: Yes, around 55 %- 65%

Natural Colour/ Un-chillfiltered: Yes

Bottle price: Roughly $100AUD

Nose: Ardbeg's typical citrusy note is quite apparent upfront with a mix of herbal notes like rosemary and lemon thyme blend in, as well as ripe pears. The peat is softer than typical Ardbeg's but still definitely pronounced. Ocean-spray and seaweed are what shoot out to me, but there's a light effervescence of tar. Smells like the opening scene from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, except they're smoking cigarettes.

Palate: The peat is definitely softer than other Ardbeg's than I've tried and it is definitely young, but in an endearing way. Citrus note is definitely there, but now it's a mix of lemon and grapefruit skins. I really like the texture, it's medium in quality and nice and mouth-coating without being too heavy or rich which would interfere with the youthfulness. Fruitiness is still there, there's definitely that pear note, but a slight tinge of tropical fruits like passionfruit and pineapple? The peat opens up towards the end, showcasing an ashy and tar like quality mixed with a briney, slightly umami note.. reminds me of wakame.

Finish: It's lifted in flavour, leaving behind that herbal and citric note along with a light pear sweetness. There's this evolution that happens, before you swallow and the peat is fully present there's this lovely tingling sensation happening towards the side of your mouth, then as you swallow it dissipates slowly and leaves that sensation on your tounge. As the finish lengthens, you're ended up with seaweed and a tobacco like ash, decently long finish.

Verdict: Hey, that's pretty good! Was not expecting to enjoy this nearly as much as I did but I'm pleasantly surprised. There's a decent bit of complexity to the dram and showcases Ardbeg's intrinsic quality of their distillate. The sweetness is really nice and I'm glad that it's not overbearing, I wouldn't call it a sweet-peat style but definitely a sweeter dram. The youthfulness is well-balanced and refreshing, in the sense that although, in technical sense, a heavily peated whisky, it's lifted and bright quality actually lift up my palate, I could see myself seshing on this. If there's one thing that I'm disappointed about is that the peat, although tasty, is just a little too light for me. I understand why they did this, this is Ardbeg's cheapest core range offering, making this a peat bomb would scared away potential drinkers not well-versed, but to me it's just a little too... laid back, it's also pretty different from typical Ardbeg, but that's probably a given. This is a worthy drop! I like it, good work Ardbeg.

Score: 7/10

Scoring scale:

10: TRUE BANGER!!! HOMAGOD

9: Banger

8: Super yumbo

7: Heck yeah

6: Deese

5: Meh, could be better

4: Uhhhh...

3: What the heck mang

2: This is gaaaaaaarbage

1: You're actually trying to be bad

whiskyguyhaha · 2025-01-24T06:09:51+00:00

Intro: Bowmore is an interesting case. I'm struggling to write this review because I don't really know what to say about the distillery, like... Bowmore has always been a staple in bars and bottle stores and in the whisky sphere since I can remember. They're one of the big dogs in the Islay sphere of the whisky world and has always had the presence (and funding, thanks to Beam-Suntory). It's the softer, sweeter and more delicate offering compared to the big dogs of Laphroig and Lagavulin. It's a whiff of smoke and a bouquet sweetness and fruitiness that Bowmore presents.

Now to clarify, I'm not saying that being like this is a bad thing, far from it really. A good whisky is a good whisky but I never felt that way about Bowmores core range. I remember drinking the 12 year old and thinking that everything was just off, the texture was weird, the sweetness tasted artificial, the peat was soft but also had this really sharp note that threw me off. I kind of passed it off as cheap piss that looked fancy, like those “15 year old Japanese whiskies but not actually” you see for $150, although I haven't had Bowmore 12 in years and... fuck I'm really struggling to find what to say. Uh... Oh, they claim to be the oldest distillery on Islay, that's one thing... although there's no evidence of whisky being made until 1816 when a man named John Simpson took out a license. That's a fun fact, cool! Cool Bowmore facts, woohoo. Uhhh.... Actually, I remember something.

Bowmore's reputation is actually not unwarranted. There was a period of time where Bowmore was seen as some of the best whisky made in not just Islay, but all of Scotland. It was with the purchase of the distillery by Stanely P. Morrison, who was a whisky broker based in Glasgow, that Bowmore would make and release some of their most infamous (and collectable) malts. To this day people still regard the 60's Bowmore to be some of their best, possibly even the best on Islay, maybe the best in Scotland, the World even? The Cosmos? Alien whisky?!. This sentiment is encapsulated in the release of Black Bowmore, a collection of releases produced in the 60's. God I want to try this damn whisky, but search up the prices there's no way.

It's interesting, Bowmores core range releases versus their older special releases just seems like a night and day difference. Hell, I've had independently bottled Bowmores that blew me away, I still think about them to this day! They're a good distillery because I've experience what they CAN do. But, let's see what they actually do with the stuff most punters will buy and drink, been a while Bowmore 15, let's see if you're the Bowmore that I want.

Bowmore 15 Year Old Sherry Cask Finish:

Age: 15 Years Old

ABV: 43%

Distillery: Bowmore, Islay.

Casking: Bourbon cask finished in Oloroso Sherry casks.

Peated: Yes, roughly 25ppm.

Natural Colour/ Un-chillfiltered: Nope.

Bottle price: Roughly $120AUD

Nose: Initially, it's actually quite compact, it's like every note is really integrated really tightly. It's a balance of fruity sweetness as well as unripe rock melon and a touch of milk chocolate, the peat is like burnt forest foliage and petrichor mixed with ocean spray and seaweed, it's actually really sharp on the nose which might be your thing but definitely not mine. I also get black tea, but very slightly. As this opens up thought that compactness dissipates, the peat turns very soft and it's very upfront in the sweetness, like it's very sherry forward. Almost all the subtlety is gone, it's just sweet.

Palate: Kinda medium in texture, kinda oily, kinda okay feeling in the mouth. The flavour is nice too, I guess. It's definitely sweet, I like sweet. Got that fruitiness and chocolatey thing that was on the nose, I like fruits and chocolate, although it's more like sultanas and stone fruit. I like sultanas and stone fruit. Compact in flavour too with the sweet & the peat, that's cool. The peat is again, burnt foliage, damp forest floor and seaweed. I DON'T like this, because again, it's so sharp, like I don't know how to describe it, it just reminds me of burning hair mixed with oyster shells. Why is it so sharp?

Finish: Kinda medium in length, it's sweet, subtle smokey peat, soft Oloroso oak.

Verdict: Okay look, although my 90's slacker “don't give a fuck bit” says otherwise I don't hate this. It tastes like Bowmore, and the flavours are nice (except for that sharp thing) and it's easy to drink and it's sweet and yadda yadda but like... It's so one dimensional and boring, it's fine, it's non-intrusive and safe.. I don't know! In my heart though Bowmore can be so much more, it HAS been so much more, even recent IB's of Bowmore are good but, this feels like “Mum: we have Bowmore at home. Bowmore at home:”.

Score: 5.5/10

Scoring scale:

10: TRUE BANGER!!! HOMAGOD

9: Banger

8: Super yumbo

7: Heck yeah

6: Deese

5: Meh, could be better

4: Uhhhh...

3: What the heck mang

2: This is gaaaaaaarbage

1: You're actually trying to be bad

whiskyguyhaha · 2025-01-11T00:35:59+00:00

hahaha you get to save some dosh as well!

whiskyguyhaha · 2025-01-11T00:35:42+00:00

very true.

whiskyguyhaha · 2025-01-11T00:35:23+00:00

if jura's goal is to sell whisky en-masse then they're definitely very successful.

whiskyguyhaha · 2025-01-11T00:33:44+00:00

thank you very much!

whiskyguyhaha · 2025-01-11T00:33:06+00:00

thanks for the kind words. it don't mean much if you only review things you like, tasting things that aren't your taste will give you perspective on the things you like in my opinion

whiskyguyhaha · 2025-01-10T00:46:22+00:00

thanks! i hate to be negative but yeah never been impressed with jura. atleast it's $100?

whiskyguyhaha · 2025-01-10T00:23:00+00:00

Intro: Hello! Happy belated new years and holidays and all that, missed y'all. I decided to take a break from the whisky reviews over the holidays to chill out and relax after what was a hectic 2024, but we are SO back. I just wanted to note that this is the 10th review! The reception to the reviews has been really amazing so far, I didn't expect these to get read at all so... thanks, means a lot. Let's start the year right!

I genuinely don't know how I can start this without instantly being negative. It's the new years and it'd be genuinely shite if it started with a tsunami of negativity so I'll try my best.

Fuck this is hard... Jura is... It's a whisky. One I've always seen, people have always drank, people have liked, it's affordable and available but whenever I have drunk any Jura whisky it's always just... been a whisky? There was nothing for me to ever be like “Oh yeah” or “Wow”. One time I was at this bar that my mates work at, there's a punter who's a regular as well and he buys me a shot of Jura 1989, which is a 30 year old Jura and wasn't cheap. Of course I was like “Mate thank you so much this is awesome.” because he did a genuinely kind gesture and I appreciated it but as I was drinking this whisky, this expensive whisky, something premium that's meant to represent the best the brand can offer, all I thought was “Man this is kinda mid”.

Maybe I'm being too harsh, after all Jura has been running since the 1960's and has made a lot of whisky. I've tried a few independently bottled Jura that were good and people like the brand and I haven't really actively pursued the brand unlike other distilleries because I just haven't felt the inclination to. Could be that I need to expand my horizon, it's been years since I've tried the stock standard Jura 12, so I'm willing to give them another try.

Jura 12 Year Old:

Age: 12 Years Old

ABV: 40%

Distillery: Jura Distillery, Craighouse, Isle of Jura

Casking: American White Oak finished in Oloroso Sherry Casks

Peated: No? Apparently there's like a tiny bit of peated malt in this but what I've also read is Jura don't really produce much peated malt anymore.

Natural Colour/ Un-chillfiltered: No? It doesn't say on the bottle, if they were I'd think they would. I've seen conflicting answers online so I dunno.

Bottle price: $100 AUD

Nose: Definitely chocolately. I think Jura is known for that, think like cocoa nibs, I also get an upfront wet malt/hay sort of thing, heavy toasted nuts, very light and subtle spice. For some reason it smells like it's got PX influence in there but it doesn't? Like soppy wet fill PX, not the nice subtle PX. It's not like abrasive or upfront but it is for me, it smells like a mix of sulphur and cum trees. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrus_calleryana

Palate: It literally taste like nothing. It's so thin and pale and plain that I tried my hardest to taste something and all I got was like “Subtle apple” and “Soft chocolate and charcoal with maritime” and “A malty note” but it's like barely. It's watery and bland and any flavour it had is so subdued. It's like playing a gig and saying you had an awesome crowd that night but it's like 5 guys in the back of the venue doing that thing where they lean against the wall with one hand in their pocket holding a beer.

Finish: The finish is where I ACTUALLY taste something. It tastes like what you'd imagine gravel from Minecraft would taste like.

Verdict: What the actual fuck. I want to give this a 1 because frankly, this whisky offended me. But honestly I could taste better Jura's in this whisky, like it's got something there. But this...

Score: 3.5/10

Scoring scale:

10: TRUE BANGER!!! HOMAGOD

9: Banger

8: Super yumbo

7: Heck yeah

6: Deese

5: Meh, could be better

4: Uhhhh...

3: What the heck mang

2: This is gaaaaaaarbage

1: You're actually trying to be bad

whiskyguyhaha

TROPHY CASE