John, I love Deanston, your slogan, and I love you! Don't let the hypebeasts bother you. I see your slogan as an attempt to ground people that get in their feels about a bottle of booze. Whisky is supposed to enhance your life and experiences, not be the main focus of it. I vote to keep it. Just my .02. Merry Christmas!
Great review John,i too bought it on Ralfy’s recommendation and think perhaps i got the same underwhelming batch as your good self,love your Kissmass jumper.
I did not replace this or many of the 12 year olds from the start of my journey. In those days my budget was always 2 for $100. I didn't think there would be a worthy difference spending more $$$ if I followed Ralfy's guidance I'd make good purchasing decisions, after all, it's just whisky. I decanted the last 150mls of this Deanston and it is very light, both coler and on the nose. But I think it hits the major flavors, sour, bitter, sweet and a bit savory. There is something in the finish that I find very engaging. No WOW factor but if those entry level malts blew my mind I may have not continued on this journey. If you want a WOW then try that Bourdeax. As a compulsive collector and 25 year friend of Bill, I can easily say I love your motto. In three words you brought logic to all the emotions on Whiskytube. The FOMA, the budgeting, the latest and greatest hyped up....all mean nothing cuz it's just whisky. If like the Deanston 12 for being simple, I am always tempted by the 15 or the 18. Either way "so much whisky, so little time" Keep up the good work John!
Thank you so much for verifying my thoughts on Deanston 12. I thought I was losing my sense of smell and taste. Too many tubers on the band wagon. I love your view on whisky
hi John,to me , I don't mind at all, I actually agree with your phase that you usually use "its just whiskey folks", I really appreciate all of your review, frankly to me, you are one of the most honest youtubers I follow, and the fact that you compare one scotch to another is one of the things I appreciate the most, other youtuber don't even like to compare scotch to another scotch, for their own reason, its very helpful to compare because thats what we all do when we want to buy a whisky, you have a budget and there are many options , so, thank you again for your honest reviews and I trust you palate ,nose and taste, cheers John, keep it up, brother , you actually remind me of Ralfy, heheh, sometimes
Thank you so much for your kind words… and Most of us wouldn’t be here without Ralfy. I do try my best to keep it real and compare…. Mirroring what I want to see and hear. Thanks for your support! Cheers🥃
Different strokes for different folks. I am on the Deanston fan wagon. It was an early favorite in my journey and it remains so. For me, it is just a great any time sipper. Cheers!
Uh oh, I finally gave in and just recently bought one of these to see what the hype was all about. Haven't opened it yet. Mine came in a box rather than a tube. Will have to check the color. I've been trying to branch out a bit from my usual peated malts but I'm afraid that based on my usual tastes and preferences that my opinion of this one will be like yours. Let's hope I'm wrong or else maybe it'll be the bottle I bring to the Christmas party. LOL
Well I'm glad that I'm not the only one who thinks this way about Deanston 12 yo! I can't say which "batch" my whisky was, as I can't compare mine to anything and screen distorts the colours. It could really be either one. I would say that it's probably closer to that lighter coloured bottling than the darker one. "Kind of weak... uneventful.. not interesting" That kind of describes my feelings too. Bit too sour for me. There was certainly no wow effect. It was like: "Not bad, but... is this all?" It doesn't even smell of much anything. As a comparison, I bought a bottle of Caol Ila 12 yo last year. It took a few weeks of interaction with air for the whisky to open up, but when it did, it turned out to be pretty nicely balanced whisky with good mouthfeel and clear character. Not my type of whisky, but definitely not a bad purchase. Deanston 12 yo is just not interesting. There is a hint of something in it that I really love, that vanilla flavour.. Dry vanilla. But it's thin, it's mild. There's not enough of it for me to enjoy. The sad thing here is that I allowed myself to be swayed by hugely positive reviews. Most Deanston 12 yo reviews have been very positive. People are praising it. And I was a fool and bought myself a bottle instead of just following my intuition entirely. With Caol Ila I did follow my intuition and it paid off. Most of my big time dissapointments have been with whiskies that have been praised in reviews, by Ralfy for example! ...Still love his channel, I just should buy the whiskies that he doesn't recommend.
Awesome words! I do my best to keep it real and try not to ride the hype train… but I do sometimes get caught up in it shaking my head…questioning is it me… Cheers🥃
@@justwhiskyYou reiterated that the problem is not with the Deanstone 12 but with the batch you stumbled upon and I can confirm that this is normally a sublime, balanced and rich whisky but some of your followers seem not to have understood this.
@@eymerichinquisitore9022 I found it to be a decent dram but unforgettable. I have been to a Deanston tasting and I found all to be unremarkable…. Obviously I’m an outlier but just relaying my honest assessment and experience… we all have different palate and preferences. Cheers 🥃
Hey John, don't forget it is just whisky...ha ha... I have heard that Deanston has some consistency issues and your two bottles seem to prove that. I am headed on a 6 hour one way bus ride to the capitol next week to buy whisky I cannot find here in my city. Deanston 12 was on my list...After Roy and Ralfy raving about it I was going to buy 2 bottles...But, your review and Geoff from Taiwan have caused me to change to just 1.....I will look for the darker bottle ha ha.. I sure loved your shout out to watch Whisky Lock's Advent Calendar. He is such an impressive whisky taster and his Advent series was pure gold... Cheers!!!
Your trip sounds both exciting and expensive…lol Yeah try the Deanston in the parking lot to see if it’s worthy of another. And yes W Lock is a wiz ! Cheers🥃 Safe travels
@@justwhisky I really do not like Phnom Penh...But, found a great whisky store there and will bite the bullet. I have milked the Asian markets around here dry of Billy Walker GDs and other old dusty beauties. He has some primo stuff and what I would call must haves. A mini bus is $12 each way...I know the area and his store is just a few blocks down from the hotels I stayed at along the river...the good ol days... I may drop a few bucks for sure ...but, at least it will be for whisky and not some girls and gent's clubs...I tend to spend a lot of dough there after sundown...I will be long gone before that this trip. It should be fun...I have not left Siem Reap in almost 2 years...I was going back to the USA to my house 3 times a year and had just gotten back here January 20, 2020 when things went south. I thought I would wait for a few months for things to mellow out...no such luck.. It takes me 3 planes and a 125 mile uber to get to my house in the US....It will be 90F today...So, I will ride out another winter drinking scotch. Cheers John...
@@justwhisky I have a Khmer (Cambodian) wife who is 28 years younger and far more mature...Will be leaving her here...This is kind of like a mission Chuck Norris would of gone on back in the day...whisky tango op... I may have to sleep in my whisky room for a few days...
Interesting, I still have not seen the updated label/tube for Deanston make its way to my part of Florida. There is plenty of the old style label/box and the 12-year typically retails for ~$50. Recently a local shop cleared out their stock of the 12-year for $34.99. At that price, it is hard to argue against Deanston but I tend to agree - a decent, well made whisky but not one that will light up one's world with its complexity and nuance. My unsolicited opinion in regard to your catch-phrase, I always interpreted it as a nod to not get too worked up or fixated on any particular bottle or release. There is certainly no shortage of whiskey in the world and if you miss today's 'special' bottle, sure as the sun rises each morning, there will be a new 'special' bottle tomorrow.
Its a shame you're ditching "No matter how good it is or how much it costs..." part of your slogan. I find its actually quite positive because it really hits home the point that regardless of price (what people seem to be complaining about because they feel insecure about their own bags) and regardless of what someone else says about the quality of a whisky at the end of the day whisky is what it is. No more, no less. The arbiter of whisky quality is always oneself. The millions of other whisky arbiters are right too though for their own tastes in terms of whisky quality; price is out of their control. Any viewer who is affronted by such a statement is missing the point of whisky and ones whisky journey. In the words of J.C. Denton, "What a shame.". Also...Deanston 14 organic was a big disappointment. I tried to challenge myself to overcome the hurdles it threw at me but after drinking half the bottle over 4 months i havent found many redeeming qualities. Bummer to hear that about the 12 too.
I just want to give people something to ponder? Is color the only way to tell cask influence in a whisky that is not artificially colored. That is, csn flavor be extracted from a cask without color. Is darker whisky always going to be more flavirful?
Fully agree with your assessment John, I found this to be very flat and inoffensive to my novice palate...I won't be replacing it
That was my experience but definitely batch variations here.
Cheers🥃
John, I love Deanston, your slogan, and I love you! Don't let the hypebeasts bother you. I see your slogan as an attempt to ground people that get in their feels about a bottle of booze. Whisky is supposed to enhance your life and experiences, not be the main focus of it. I vote to keep it. Just my .02. Merry Christmas!
Thanks so much for your awesome words and spirit!
Cheers🥃
Great review John,i too bought it on Ralfy’s recommendation and think perhaps i got the same underwhelming batch as your good self,love your Kissmass jumper.
Good to know I’m not alone in my assessment.
Merry Kissmas!
I did not replace this or many of the 12 year olds from the start of my journey. In those days my budget was always 2 for $100. I didn't think there would be a worthy difference spending more $$$ if I followed Ralfy's guidance I'd make good purchasing decisions, after all, it's just whisky.
I decanted the last 150mls of this Deanston and it is very light, both coler and on the nose. But I think it hits the major flavors, sour, bitter, sweet and a bit savory. There is something in the finish that I find very engaging. No WOW factor but if those entry level malts blew my mind I may have not continued on this journey.
If you want a WOW then try that Bourdeax.
As a compulsive collector and 25 year friend of Bill, I can easily say I love your motto. In three words you brought logic to all the emotions on Whiskytube. The FOMA, the budgeting, the latest and greatest hyped up....all mean nothing cuz it's just whisky.
If like the Deanston 12 for being simple, I am always tempted by the 15 or the 18. Either way "so much whisky, so little time"
Keep up the good work John!
Thanks so much for the kind words of reassurance and support.
Cheers🥃
Thank you so much for verifying my thoughts on Deanston 12. I thought I was losing my sense of smell and taste. Too many tubers on the band wagon. I love your view on whisky
I do my best to keep it real.
Cheers 🥃
hi John,to me , I don't mind at all, I actually agree with your phase that you usually use "its just whiskey folks", I really appreciate all of your review, frankly to me, you are one of the most honest youtubers I follow, and the fact that you compare one scotch to another is one of the things I appreciate the most, other youtuber don't even like to compare scotch to another scotch, for their own reason, its very helpful to compare because thats what we all do when we want to buy a whisky, you have a budget and there are many options , so, thank you again for your honest reviews and I trust you palate ,nose and taste, cheers John, keep it up, brother , you actually remind me of Ralfy, heheh, sometimes
Thank you so much for your kind words… and Most of us wouldn’t be here without Ralfy.
I do try my best to keep it real and compare…. Mirroring what I want to see and hear.
Thanks for your support!
Cheers🥃
@@justwhisky your welcome cheers
Different strokes for different folks. I am on the Deanston fan wagon. It was an early favorite in my journey and it remains so. For me, it is just a great any time sipper. Cheers!
You’re not alone. My batch was fine but not impressed yet. For Ralfy WOTY I was expecting more. But maybe just a batch thing.
Cheers 🥃
Batch inconsistency can be really dramatic at times. Too bad some aren't quite happy with your slogan. I love it and put things in perspective.
Thanks for the support!
Cheers🥃
Uh oh, I finally gave in and just recently bought one of these to see what the hype was all about. Haven't opened it yet. Mine came in a box rather than a tube. Will have to check the color. I've been trying to branch out a bit from my usual peated malts but I'm afraid that based on my usual tastes and preferences that my opinion of this one will be like yours. Let's hope I'm wrong or else maybe it'll be the bottle I bring to the Christmas party. LOL
For the money there is little downside. I’m sure there must be batch variations. Worst case…it’s a crowd pleaser
Well I'm glad that I'm not the only one who thinks this way about Deanston 12 yo! I can't say which "batch" my whisky was, as I can't compare mine to anything and screen distorts the colours. It could really be either one. I would say that it's probably closer to that lighter coloured bottling than the darker one. "Kind of weak... uneventful.. not interesting" That kind of describes my feelings too. Bit too sour for me. There was certainly no wow effect. It was like: "Not bad, but... is this all?" It doesn't even smell of much anything.
As a comparison, I bought a bottle of Caol Ila 12 yo last year. It took a few weeks of interaction with air for the whisky to open up, but when it did, it turned out to be pretty nicely balanced whisky with good mouthfeel and clear character. Not my type of whisky, but definitely not a bad purchase. Deanston 12 yo is just not interesting. There is a hint of something in it that I really love, that vanilla flavour.. Dry vanilla. But it's thin, it's mild. There's not enough of it for me to enjoy.
The sad thing here is that I allowed myself to be swayed by hugely positive reviews. Most Deanston 12 yo reviews have been very positive. People are praising it. And I was a fool and bought myself a bottle instead of just following my intuition entirely. With Caol Ila I did follow my intuition and it paid off. Most of my big time dissapointments have been with whiskies that have been praised in reviews, by Ralfy for example! ...Still love his channel, I just should buy the whiskies that he doesn't recommend.
Awesome words! I do my best to keep it real and try not to ride the hype train… but I do sometimes get caught up in it shaking my head…questioning is it me…
Cheers🥃
@@justwhiskyYou reiterated that the problem is not with the Deanstone 12 but with the batch you stumbled upon and I can confirm that this is normally a sublime, balanced and rich whisky but some of your followers seem not to have understood this.
@@eymerichinquisitore9022 I found it to be a decent dram but unforgettable. I have been to a Deanston tasting and I found all to be unremarkable….
Obviously I’m an outlier but just relaying my honest assessment and experience… we all have different palate and preferences.
Cheers 🥃
I like the phrase. It’s true and it needs repeating. Don’t drop it!
I’m starting to feel the love…
Thanks for the support!
Cheers 🥃
Hey John, don't forget it is just whisky...ha ha...
I have heard that Deanston has some consistency issues and your two bottles seem to prove that.
I am headed on a 6 hour one way bus ride to the capitol next week to buy whisky I cannot find here in my city. Deanston 12 was on my list...After Roy and Ralfy raving about it I was going to buy 2 bottles...But, your review and Geoff from Taiwan have caused me to change to just 1.....I will look for the darker bottle ha ha..
I sure loved your shout out to watch Whisky Lock's Advent Calendar.
He is such an impressive whisky taster and his Advent series was pure gold...
Cheers!!!
Your trip sounds both exciting and expensive…lol
Yeah try the Deanston in the parking lot to see if it’s worthy of another.
And yes W Lock is a wiz !
Cheers🥃
Safe travels
@@justwhisky I really do not like Phnom Penh...But, found a great whisky store there and will bite the bullet. I have milked the Asian markets around here dry of Billy Walker GDs and other old dusty beauties. He has some primo stuff and what I would call must haves. A mini bus is $12 each way...I know the area and his store is just a few blocks down from the hotels I stayed at along the river...the good ol days...
I may drop a few bucks for sure ...but, at least it will be for whisky and not some girls and gent's clubs...I tend to spend a lot of dough there after sundown...I will be long gone before that this trip.
It should be fun...I have not left Siem Reap in almost 2 years...I was going back to the USA to my house 3 times a year and had just gotten back here January 20, 2020 when things went south.
I thought I would wait for a few months for things to mellow out...no such luck.. It takes me 3 planes and a 125 mile uber to get to my house in the US....It will be 90F today...So, I will ride out another winter drinking scotch.
Cheers John...
@@jeffmill999 wow… sounds like you have it all figured out. Sounds like a plan.
At least you’ll have good company 🥃
@@justwhisky I have a Khmer (Cambodian) wife who is 28 years younger and far more mature...Will be leaving her here...This is kind of like a mission Chuck Norris would of gone on back in the day...whisky tango op...
I may have to sleep in my whisky room for a few days...
@@jeffmill999 a wild ride you are on!
Have you tried the dark one yet? Might be worthy of re-visiting this one.
Not yet but thanks for the nudge.
Cheers 🥃
Interesting, I still have not seen the updated label/tube for Deanston make its way to my part of Florida. There is plenty of the old style label/box and the 12-year typically retails for ~$50. Recently a local shop cleared out their stock of the 12-year for $34.99. At that price, it is hard to argue against Deanston but I tend to agree - a decent, well made whisky but not one that will light up one's world with its complexity and nuance. My unsolicited opinion in regard to your catch-phrase, I always interpreted it as a nod to not get too worked up or fixated on any particular bottle or release. There is certainly no shortage of whiskey in the world and if you miss today's 'special' bottle, sure as the sun rises each morning, there will be a new 'special' bottle tomorrow.
Well said John! Thanks for the encouraging words. Maybe I should stick to my guns…. Oops am I allowed to say that 😳🤓
Cheers🥃
Its a shame you're ditching "No matter how good it is or how much it costs..." part of your slogan. I find its actually quite positive because it really hits home the point that regardless of price (what people seem to be complaining about because they feel insecure about their own bags) and regardless of what someone else says about the quality of a whisky at the end of the day whisky is what it is. No more, no less. The arbiter of whisky quality is always oneself. The millions of other whisky arbiters are right too though for their own tastes in terms of whisky quality; price is out of their control. Any viewer who is affronted by such a statement is missing the point of whisky and ones whisky journey. In the words of J.C. Denton, "What a shame.". Also...Deanston 14 organic was a big disappointment. I tried to challenge myself to overcome the hurdles it threw at me but after drinking half the bottle over 4 months i havent found many redeeming qualities. Bummer to hear that about the 12 too.
Appreciate the encouraging words of wisdom.
Maybe my other bottle of D 12 is better?
Haven’t given up…
Cheers🥃
You thought the phrase was good when you came up with it. I think it has meaning and gives us all something to consider, after all, it's just whisky!
Thank you so much for those encouraging words.
Much appreciated!
Cheers 🥃
I just want to give people something to ponder? Is color the only way to tell cask influence in a whisky that is not artificially colored. That is, csn flavor be extracted from a cask without color. Is darker whisky always going to be more flavirful?
Ardbeg 10 is full flavored but very light color…. Just one example that more color doesn’t necessarily mean more flavor.
Bought a Deanston 12 last week..it wasnt the dark batch..very disappointing..maybe Amazon are getting rid of old stock...🤨🫤
@@iancrombie8862 yeah I haven’t connected with their brand…it’s decent but🤷♂️
Cheers 🥃
@@justwhisky the dark batch from a year ago was very good..prefer Glenallachie!!