McClelland’s is not a distillery, so this is a little different from what we’ve been looking at so far. They are a bottler, as near as I can tell, who get their contents from Morrison Bowmore’s various distilleries, split up into lines by geographic regions. I guess the idea is to create a brand of reasonably priced, reputable examples of regional flavours, by providing a selection of decent single malt aged a minimum of three years.
Their example of an Islay scotch is alright, a little unimpressive. This would make an good gift, or half decent shelf-filler for your own collection. Here’s what we thought:
smell
Dan – crazy, awesome, weird, chocolate, smoke
Simon – oak, bog, brine, wormwood like tequila
Ryan – peat, almond
neat
Dan – not good, water-logged wood, burn, chocolate, syrupy
Simon – chocolate, sweet, salty, spicy, syrupy, unfinished
Ryan – wet plant matter
splash
Dan – settles down, smokier, lessens burn
Simon – simpler, slight beef
Ryan – good cooking whiskey? generic but quality
McClelland’s Islay Single Malt Whisky – 40% 750ml – $35.05 – Islay
Try it? Nah. Buy it? Sure.
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