04/06/2026 An evening at Onion

This is another chain of sorts. One venue is a hip bakery we once visited for breakfast. This one is a covered stall selling pizza by the side of a market that serves highballs. It also happens to have twentyish Korea-exclusive bottlings of whisky. This city is mad like that.

Rubbish collection two metres from our street stall.
Mad.

Glen Moray 13yo 2008/2021 (58.7%, Blackadder Raw Cask Bottled for Dal Dal Korea imported by Magic International, Hogshead, C#2988, 170b, b#19)

Nose: it is fairly neutral, at first, which may suggest a high ABV. A minute's breathing and we can confirm: this assails the nose with flower essence, haybales and cut fruits -- raspberry and peach slices. There is also dark wood at play, which is not expected and offers a nice counterpoint. The second nose has much more white-wood sawdust (birch, balsa), ginger powder, galangal gratings. Water unlocks darker notes of pressed dark grapes and leather. 
Mouth: lovely orange or tangerine juice augmented with white-wood sawdust. Keep it on the tongue long enough and white pepper shows up, shaved lemongrass, ginger powder. Chewing reveals dried citrus peels, slightly bitter, and orange oil. The second sip combines the same wood notes with oily orange peels. Softer with water, it delivers pineapple and pear juices.
Finish: orange oil is right. It is oily, bitter, yet it remains pretty fruity all in all. It is also warming. The alcohol is integrated, but the high ABV is palpable. It is also a tad drying, in the long run, with sawdust and ground white pepper. The second gulp kicks even stronger to play the same notes: wood dust, citrus peels, powdered spices. Water adds a boozy sponge cake.
Comment: very good. A shared cask with Belgium, it would appear: it was released for the fifteenth anniversary of The Nectar.
Score: 8/10

Royal Brackla 12yo 2011/2023 (59.20%, Volpe & Castello imported by J International, Bourbon Barrel, C#1176, 92b, b#1)

Nose: robust and woody at first, it rolls out custard and butterscotch at the next sniff. We do find dried orange peels rubbed on rustic oak furniture. Flan tart with a lovely caramel coulis. It has a fruity note too, either blueberries or currants. The second nose brings warm crusty bread and a knife that has cut yellow citrus (calamansi, sweet lemon, calamondin). Water brings up burnt apple pie, which means more caramel.
Mouth: mellow and very fruity. We have currants, green grapes and lychees, perhaps rambutans. It warms up on the tongue to the point it feels as if it could burn a hole through it. Apart from that, it is well pleasant. Burning-hot raspberry slices. The second sip is fruitier, teeming with calamansi and calamondin, kumquat, citron and a minute amount of metal. Water makes it mellow and reminds me of honey-glazed pickled onions.
Finish: long, it has caramel poured on a blueberry cheese cake. There is a lick of warm metal behind that, perhaps a tin plate or a knife, a faint bitterness that brings nothing negative to the table. The second gulp is a trifle numbing, with white wood and white peach displayed on a stainless-steel plate.
Comment: very good and terribly unlikely we will see this again. The label represents a traditional Korean card games, by the way.
Score: 8/10

That Benromach is tempting

Upon looking at the bottles to choose a second flight, we are told they are closing in ten minutes. The site said earlier than that, the chalkboard reads later. It is likely linked to the staff's mood. Despite a case of FOMO, it is time to hit the sack anyway.