Scotch Review #102: Kirkland 24 Year Blended Scotch

Image credit: The Whiskey Shelf

Distillery: Blend

Region: Blend

ABV: 40%

Age: 24 years.

Casks: Aged in ex-Bourbon casks

Price: Sample courtesy of /u/kelthfire

Color: 1.3, Russet/Muscat. Natural Color but it is Chill Filtered.

Nose: (according to the wife) Some rubbing alcohol, some commercial cleaning solvents, and a hint of lemon. Not a good start Costco.

Palate: It’s a sweet dram with some fruit joining in some caramel notes. Apples and oranges are the ones that stand out. There’s a slightly savory note as well in malted milk biscuits.

Finish: Surprisingly long. That malted milk biscuit note really dominates the finish and just lingers forever. There is a hint of vanilla as well along with a bit of really old oak.

Conclusion: /u/kelthfire graciously included a sample of this as part of the bottle swap we did a bit ago. If it weren’t for the horror show of the nose (honestly who wants to smell commercial solvents in their drink?), I think I would like this a lot more. The palate has a few layers of flavor in there and the finish is really long. That malted milk biscuit note is really lovely and ties things together. I am a bit surprised about the seemingly old oak in here, it seems like this would’ve come out of an incredibly old ex-bourbon barrel but perhaps I’m just imagining things. Would I buy a bottle? Unlikely.

Final Score: 75.

Scotch Whisky review #102, Blended Whisky Review #8, Whisky Network Review #133

Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.