Al Ahram Beverages: Auld Stag Whisky (Egypt: Blended Whisky: 40% ABV)
Visual: Pale grain color body with fast thick streaks from the spirit.
Nose: Viscous alcohol jelly aroma. Honeyed barley. Light banana esters. Water smooths out the viscous alcohol.
Body: Smooth front. Lime. Quickly into warming alcohol. Surprisingly viscous. Vanilla. Honeyed barley. Water still leaves it with notable alcohol. Eggplant. Apple.
Finish: Alcohol jelly air. Light soot. Lime. Vanilla. Rum soaked sponge. Water actually makes the alcohol rougher. Eggplant.
Conclusion: Ok, lets start with the good news. This is better that Isawa pearl barley whisky. That is the end of the good news.
So, not to be an age snob, but if this is a day over three years aged I will be freaking shocked. If you told me bottling in Egypt meant that the law allowed it to be bottled younger than three years I would say that explains a lot.
There is a super viscous alcohol jelly take to the aroma and that follows through the whole experience. I used a good chunk of bottled water to try smooth it down, and it did help front and middle, but actually made the finish feel rougher. Didn’t think that was possible.
So let’s take for granted it is rougher than a badger’s arsehole, and I added a LOT of water. What is actually there?
Neat, there is some lime evident, a popular note of young spirit, and along with that a touch of honeyed barley and vanilla sweetness. Simple sweetness seems to be the main aim, with a touch of soot in the finish.
I will give them this, they didn’t try to caramel up the whisky to make it look fancy and older, it looks as young as it feels.
There is the faintest hint of better, the finish has a hint of rum soaked sponge, a note quickly lost.
This is the second worst whisky I have ever tasted. Avoid. Even if you are in Egypt and really want a whisky , avoid. Just stick to the sub optimal beer, you will thank me.
Background: So, while in Egypt I saw this, very Scotland coded whisky. Yet on examination of the bottle it is listed as made in Egypt and from the Egyptian Al Ahram Beverages. So I decided to give a go. I googled and couldn’t find any evidence of an Egyptian distillery for this, and its flavor profile does not feel like one aged in a super hot country, so my best guess is this is Scottish made whisky that has been bottled in Egypt. Or heck maybe bottled in Scotland and they just say made in Egypt as…something something odd law. Any which way, I had while on a boat on the Nile and they poured a fucking huge measure. Which proved to be a problem considering how bad it was. Also, while not expensive by UK scale, buying in a hotel gets you very overpriced whisky on a local level, I could have got a full half bottle in a local alcohol store for the price of this one measure. Though that is the same with most stuff in Egypt, seriously, hunt out your local marts, alcohol shops and just corner snack establishments for stuff. They are stupidly cheap and I’m guessing puts more into the local economy. They did not charge me for the bottle of water I used to add water to this, which was nice, as was I fuck using unbottled water. I like not shitting through an eye of a needle.
