To come back to Mr Th comment, if no one would review then, no much would be said about them and they would have a tough time selling them.

As mention by John, how much better are they from a 18 yo or a 30 Yo?

My comments about spirits reviews notwithstanding, I enjoy visiting your site frequently, and I recently took you up on the two-for-one offer to subscribe to Malt Advocate. I look forward to receiving my first issue! Your site and Chuck Cowdery’s blog are by far the most informative sites on the web for whiskey information.

Language swears to us that it can transform most anything into a paragraph, even a good dram. It’s doubtful, however, that anyone who really believed this could be a good reviewer. Good reviewers understand the limitations of language and work within them. The best any reviewer do is draw the reader on with hints, which is all that genuine reviews are.

Also, Apologies Mr. TH, I can’t help myself but to come to the defense of Old Man of Hoy. Man that was an excellent bottling! Really one of the most individualistic and savory whiskies I’ve ever had. The notes of chutney, semisweet dill pickle, olive, lemon– My bottle’s almost empty, my dealer can’t get me any more and I don’t know what to do.

But then again, it’s not nescessarily the type of thing that someone who really liked the standard HP line would go for.

I also try to provide some general summary notes, which I did at the beginning of this review, which I think adds perspective.

(PS While I don’t think I have ever used the term, “Buxom” to me means full-bodied, lively.)

Mark, I go back and forth: I nose, then taste, add water, nose again, taste again, etc.

Still, I remember reading an interview with a chemist who specializes in whisky. He spoke of using two languages, one for his public work with the SMWS, and one in his professional context. The latter was, not surprisingly, much more sophisticated and precise. So, when Mr Troland writes, “The problem is with our language that is incapable of describing aromas very accurately,” he has a point. It does not, however, follow that more accessible terms are meaningless.

John, one question, and I apologize if answering it requires restating something I missed in the past: When tasting, how long do you typically nose the whisky before that initial sip? In my experience, the list of aromas develops over time as one picks out characteristics. (I think over the last few years, at least when I’m trying to take the dram seriously, it’s at least 3-5 minutes before it crosses the lips; this gives something like ample time to identify aspects.) Thank you!

Regarding review samples, when it comes to rare bottlings, I suspect that some companies just sacrifice one bottle and send 50 or 100 ml samples to a short list whisky writers.

John, bottlings like these always make me wonder…there’s such a limited amount of it, but all of the reviewers seem to get a sample. Do you have any idea what percentage of the whisky produced gets sent out as samples for review? I wonder about this, too, when I hear of Richard Paterson pouring drams of 62yo Dalmore down various people’s throats.