Oct 2023 - Milk Stout, Adelphi & Classic Cut

Welcome to another month and welcome to the new members of the Mr Dram Man family. We have 3 great Drams lined up this month starting with the Deanston Milk Stout cask matured, Adelphi Blended and to finish, the Macallan Classic Cut 2023.

Before we start, over the next month we have some exciting new features coming to the site with our Loyalty Dram points which can be exchanged for Drams and money off vouchers. We are also introducing a referral scheme, earning you additional Dram points and discounts for referring your friends and family. More news to follow on this over the next few weeks...

Lets get started with the Deanston Dragons Milk Stout cask...

Deanston Dragons Milk Stout finish

An experimental, limited edition bottling, put into re-charred bourbon casks in 2012 and left to mature for 8 years, before spending its last 2 years in Dragons Milk Stout casks. Dragons Milk Stout is a core bottling from an American beer company - in their words "Dragon's Milk has been a term used to describe potent ales that were bestowed in celebration at the end of a journey". Their signature stout has been left to brew in bourbon barrels for 3 months - giving it a creamy vanilla, chocolate and coffee flavour, bottled at a 11%abv. Those flavours definitely come out when nosing this Dram - a vanilla herbiness, with hints of orchard sweetness to it. On the palate a very easy drinking Dram, mixed spices coming through, vanilla notes which continue through to the finish, bitter chocolate and pepper lingering going through to an enjoyable finish of coffee and nuts with hints of oak. I wouldn't say it was a standout from Deanston, it is an experiment, it does showcase the exciting and interesting things that can be done with different casks and finishes, and it works, and at a decent price too that doesn't break the bank. 79/100

Adelphi Blended Scotch Whisky

Next up we have a blend from Adelphi - a company that in itself is an independent bottler - sourcing rare and excellent casks and releasing them in limited supply but more recently known for starting up the Ardnamurchan Distillery. Over the years Adelphi have released some amazing single casks - this isn't quite that - but knowing what amazing casks they can get their hands on I am excited to see what they can do with a blend. Straight in I am getting very fruity notes, like that fresh smell when opening a packet of wine gums, combined with a sea air saltiness. The palate definitely gets the sweet grain from that blend in their but it is complemented by the floral and fruity notes, slight sherry hint going into the finish, mild peatiness lingering in the mouth and just a great all-rounder - and when you can get a bottle of this for less then £25 its a great weekly drinker. 78/100

Macallan Classic Cut 2023

Finally, we have this years Classic Cut release from Macallan, a series of annual bottlings that "highlight the extraordinary" that Macallan has to offer. I have mentioned my opinions on Macallan, and in particular their NAS (Non Age Statement) releases in the previous tastings. In short, Macallan do produce great whisky, high quality and refined - the true debate really with Macallan, in my opinion, is Value for Money, "Does the taste and flavour warrant and match the price?", in this case £125 + p&p. It would be interesting to know your opinions on this too, do message below in the comments.This is a limited release, which based on previous releases and a bit of research we are looking in the region of around 10,000 bottles worldwide... could argue how limited that is... and it is still available on the Macallan website which is unusual for limited release bottlings of Macallan.

On the nose straight away I get notes of baked pear/pear crumble with baked sugar. On the palate I get nutty notes of mild marzipan, caramelised fruity (pear) sweetness and warming summer floral note. What I do like about this is the higher than usual abv. of 50.3% which really makes the flavours here come alive - if this was a lower 40-43% abv like many of Macallan's NAS bottlings, it would not hold the flavours here. The finish is fairly long, sweet, and moreish - baked fruit pastries and lemon peel round it off nicely. Does it taste great? Yes. Is it worth £125 a bottle though? No. I could think of many other bottles I could spend £125 on and enjoy more, both NAS and age statemented. If I had to put a value of what would make this a worthwhile bottle to buy and drink I would be looking at half its RRP at around £65 - £70 region. Overall 85/100

I would love to know your opinions on this so do let me know.