After a long string of bourbon reviews it felt like it was time to branch out into scotch as well. Speyside scotches are what kicked off my whiskey journey initially and my bottle of Lasanta was getting low so it seemed like a great place to start reviewing scotch.
Review
Age: 12
Abv: 86 proof (43% ABV)
Color: A light to medium gold
Price: $42.99
Neat
Nose: Sweet, almost cloying, notes that are very sherry forward with oak and a bit spice
Taste: Has an interesting overipe fruit note as well a strong sherry note, oak and more warm spice. The mouth feel is surprisingly nice given the proof
Finish: Medium length finish with some caramel notes coming in. Finishes a bit more like a bourbon.
On a rock
Nose: The ice helps tame the sweetness to a more accessible level while retaining the sherry and oak notes
Taste: Also improved by the ice as the warm spice note is strengthened and the caramel note from the neat finish is present as well. The pleasant mouth feel remains
Finish: The spice and fruit note are more present in this warm, medium long finish
Conclusion
Overall this one has some ups and downs for me. It’s a bit too aggressively sweet especially when neat but there are some more interesting notes in there as well. Overall a solid whiskey but there are definitely similarly priced whiskies I prefer, such as Glenfarclas 12, and going vertical the Quinta Ruban is a big step up and I’d pretty much always suggest spending the extra few bucks.
0 Stars - Poor to Fine: I would not specifically choose to drink this
Scale
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