There have been a number of Springbank 1996 bottlings in the Archives series before. Now there’s two more: cask #55 and cask #56, both ex-bourbon hogsheads.

Springbank 22 yo 1996 (54,9%, Archives ‘Shells from the Bay of Caracas’ 2018, bourbon hogshead #55, 259 btl.)

Nose: quite a juicy version, with mineral notes, grassy touches and fresh oak on the one hand, and garden fruits on the other hand. A little pinewood and apples. Candle wax. Classic Springbank, though not really exceptional. Mouth: great now, it’s much more fruity, with peaches, oranges, hints of mango and a Clynelish-style waxiness....

Holy Dram is a Facebook group with whisky aficionados in Israel. They’re discussing spirits but also organizing local tastings and such. They already invested in a cask of Milk & Honey spirit and now they’ve selected a single cask Inchmoan 2004 exclusive to Israel.

Cask #68 was a recharred hogshead filled with peated Inchmoan spirit. They are currently preselling it in the local market.

Inchmoan 14 yo 2004 (54,2%, OB for Holy Dram IL 2018, recharred hogshead #68, 220 btl.)

Nose: this particular blend of robust ashy peat and a bit of an Irish fruitiness. Lime, sweet bananas,...

Glenfiddich Winter Storm was the third bottling in the Experimental Series , after Project XX and IPA .

It was matured for 21 years in standard American oak barrels, and then finished for 12 weeks in French oak Ice Wine casks sourced from Peller Estates Winery in Canada. The first edition was very popular so they quickly released this second batch.

Glenfiddich 21 yo ‘Winter Storm’ (43%, OB ‘Experimental series’ 2018, Ice Wine finish, 8000 btl.)

Nose: lots of candied fruits, apricots and candy apples, mixed with vanilla and whiffs of potpourri. Some tropical notes (pineapple, papaya) and...

No such thing as too much Caol Ila , even though it’s already the most reviewed distillery on this blog, just ahead of GlenDronach and Bunnahabhain. We’re now trying a Caol Ila 2000 that was part of the latest series of single cask bottlings by Master of Malt .

Caol Ila 17 yo 2000 (68,6%, Master of Malt 2018, bourbon cask)

Nose: very briney, with lots of salted almonds, seaweed and anchovies. Iodine. A light hint of apple vinegar. Grassy notes. Green olive tapenade. Oak char and coffee beans. After a while there’s more flax, leather and a...

Compass Box Stranger & Stranger

A new blended malt with 1% non-Scotch whisky, that’s Compass Box Stranger & Stranger , a limited edition to celebrate ten years of collaborations with the package design company Stranger & Stranger .

The blended malt contains a one year old grain spirit they used to season some experimental barrels. It is said to contain intense wood spice and exotic shades of vanilla. Bottled at 46% ABV, with 4802 bottles available.

Compass Box Peat Monster

Compass Box will also launch a new version of its Peat Monster . Some time ago I already mentioned...

The Perfect Measure Whisky Glass

I’ve written about whisky glasses several times before, check my overview of the best whisky glasses or my reviews of the Norlan whisky glass or the 1920s Blender’s Glass .

Recently Elixir Distillers (the bottling / product development branch of The Whisky Exchange) presented The Perfect Measure Glass , said to be the ultimate whisky & fine spirits tasting glass . It is designed by The Whisky Exchange team in collaboration with Glencairn Crystal. I ordered two boxes and used them for most of my reviews for about two weeks now.

Compared to the...

Flanders Cask Selection is a group of Belgian whisky shops: Windels, Broekmans, Single Maltwhisky Shop and Dram 242. They selected this cask of Glen Ord 2005 from the Cadenhead stocks, together with Vinothek Massen in Luxembourg.

Ord 13 yo 2005 (54,9%, Cadenhead for Massen & Flanders Finest Cask Selection, bourbon hogshead, 306 btl.)

Nose: fresh nose with lots of fruit eau-de-vie notes. Green apples, juicy pears and greengages. Malty youth. A little honey and vanilla yoghurt. Dried grasses. Some bready notes too. Mouth: similar thoughts. Malty, biscuity notes with a fruity sweetness. Green bananas, melons, lemons. Soft...

Liquid Art and Beacon Spirits teamed up for this joint bottling of an Irish Single Malt 1993 . Only 99 bottles are available.

Irish Single Malt 1993 (48,1%, Liquid Art & Beacon Spirits 2018, 99 btl.)

Nose: more on the honeyed side. Also stewed apples and peaches on syrup, hints of mango and puréed bananas. Vanilla custard in the background. Also a great waxy, almost creamy side. Hints of guimauves. More oak spices than in the 1991s for instance. Mouth: more of these sweet bananas, melons and mangoes. Guava. The fruit basket comes with a generous dose of...

Springbank filled quite a few Madeira casks in 1996-1997 and some of them have been released lately, including an official release for the Open Day 2018 as well as a Springbank 21 Years by Boutique-y Whisky .

We’re now trying a similar Springbank 21 year old 1996 bottled by Master of Malt in their single cask series.

Springbank 21 yo 1996 (55,2%, Master of Malt 2018)

Nose: starts on gun flints and a little coal dust, as often in wine matured Springbank. A little lamp oil and berries. Hints of grilled ham. Sercial in the background. Toasted rye...

GlenDronach 1993 25 Years

As you know I’m a big fan of GlenDronach single casks from the 1993 vintage , especially the ones filled 15th januari 1993. Some of these are modern classics. However they seem to have been used up and casks from other dates in the same year often turned out to be less convincing .

Earlier this week a picture was leaked by LMdW of a GlenDronach 25 Year Old 1993 ‘Master Vintage’ , probably an upcoming release. I’m not sure what to expect: part of me says it maj be a bunch of leftover casks (not...

Elixir Distillers (the bottling branch of The Whisky Exchange) donated a bottle of Karuizawa 50 Year Old to a charity auction which will raise money for Plastic Oceans, a non-profit organisation raising awareness of the impact of single-use plastics on our oceans.

The auction itself will take place in november and 9 out of 15 lots are specially prepared one-off bottles never to be repeated. There are only 2 bottles of this Karuizawa 50 Year Old , one of the oldest expressions ever bottled from this distillery.

Not much is known about the whisky, actually. There have been a few...

Earlier this week Diageo presented the Special Releases 2018 to some of its key clients and bloggers in Belgium. I was invited so I can give you some thoughts on most of the bottlings. Part 2 is coming tomorrow.

Caol Ila 15 yo ‘Unpeated style’ (59,1%, OB ‘Special Releases’ 2018, American and European oak casks)

The ‘Highlands style’, virtually unpeated. The first time this is presented in a combination of both wood types.

Nose: more on the fruity side this time. Apples and peaches, melons majbe, with raisins, light touches of pine and a hint of toasted bread....

Part two of our overview of Diageo’s   Special Releases 2018 . In case you missed it, check the Special Releases 2018 – part 1.

Inchgower 27 yo 1990 (55,3%, OB ‘Special Releases’ 2018, refill hogsheads, 8544 btl.)

Sometimes known as the ‘Manzanilla of Speyside’ for its light and coastal profile.

Nose: although there’s certainly a light fruitiness (lime, bergamot), it is more on the oaky side, with slightly fragrant notes (whiffs of potpourri). Fresh oak shavings. Ginger and pepper. Shortbread. Also a little marzipan. Mouth: fruitier and creamier now. Peaches, apples, honey and pineapple cubes. Then back...

Epitome , you say? No idea, but “according to rumours” this could be one of these malt bases blended at birth (and often re-casked / finished at some point), intended for premium Edrington blends.

Indeed, that’s basically the same concept as these wonderful 1973/1975 casks of late. A good guess in this case would be a mix of Macallan, Highland Park and Glenrothes.

‘Epitome’ 24 yo 1993 (53,1%, Maltbarn 2018, sherry cask, blended malt, 170 btl.)

Nose: a gentle profile, with berries and plums, subtle leafy notes, mint and some ‘un-modern’ oak influence (without vanilla, that is). Marmalade....

The Masterpieces series is reserved for special drams which only appear once a year or so. They are chosen by The Whisky Exchange director Sukhinder Singh .

This year we’re trying this Springbank 1993 (which Whiskyfun indicated as 1992, it appears the samples have been mislabeled).

Springbank 23 yo 1992 (52,2%, Elixir Distillers ‘Masterpieces’, refill sherry cask, 339 btl.)

Nose: very oily and mineral, with hints of polished brass, sourish peat and old leather. Hints of oysters. Delicate touches of lime and tangerines. Some floral / heathery notes as well. Pretty austere and slightly heady, hardcore Springbank. Mouth:...

CWS is Chief Whisky Society , a non-profit developing the whisky culture in China. It is the largest group of whisky lovers in the red country, with over 50,000 members and 200 whisky bars.

They sent me a sample package with their latest bottlings (thank you), all quite interesting, most of them official bottlings, with some unexpected surprises like this Glen Garioch 1979 .

Glen Garioch 38 yo 1979 (42,9%, OB for CWS 2017, first-fill sherry butt #3831, 114 btl.)

Nose: a very fragrant Glen Garioch, with a mix of geraniums and old roses, eucalyptus and a lot...

In the left hand corner: Invergordon 1972 bottled by Cave Aquila (the one-man bottling project by Belgian whisky lover Daniel Quanten ). A joint bottling with the other small bottler Brachadair .

To the right we have an Invergordon 1973 bottled in the Boogieman series by whisky specialist van der Boog in Holland.

In the middle: the brand-new Invergordon 44 Year Old (probably 1973?) bottled by The Whisky Exchange as one of the Whisky Show 2018 festival bottlings.

Invergordon 44 yo 1972 (46,7%, Cave Aquila ‘A Knight’s Dram’ 2017, cask #20, 60 btl.)

Nose: rather exemplary. Tinned peaches...

The oldest Arran I’ve had so far: Arran 21 Years 1996 bottled for the 10th Anniversary of The Whisky Show by The Whisky Exchange.

Arran 21 yo 1996 (50,2%, The Whisky Exchange – Whisky Show 2018, 217 btl.)

Nose: quite a buttery version, with pastry notes, marzipan and butterscotch. Fruity notes are growing: lots of apples, lemons and peaches. Some spices (pepper, nutmeg) and a little heather perhaps. Wet oak. Mouth: sweet, fruity onset (peaches, baked apples, hints of mango, lightly tropical), mixed with pepper and gingery notes from the oak, well integrated. Toasted brioche. Getting more zesty...

Here are the two 1993 casks from Batch 16 of the GlenDronach single cask releases .

As you know GlenDronach is nowadays merely mentioning sherry butt on most of the labels, whereas this used to be specified as Oloroso or Pedro Ximénez. This can mean two things: either they don’t know (which would be surprising as they have mentioned it for other casks filled on the exact same date) or there was some re-racking involved (not uncommon at The GlenDronach). Or they simply don’t want to tell us, which would be sad.

We’ll start with cask #445 filled in februari...

Earth, Water, Fire, Wood, Metal. These five elements are at the core of whisky making and they make up the Tomatin Five Virtues series launched in 2017. All NAS releases at 46%.

Tomatin Wood is drawn from a combination of 70% French oak, 20% American oak and 10% Hungarian oak, representative of the many varieties of the 177.000 casks they hold in their 14 warehouses. The spirit was distilled between 1999 and 2006.

Tomatin Fire was matured in heavily charred casks, stimulating new, fresh vanilla flavours. The casks were filled in 2005.

Tomatin Wood (46%, OB ‘Five Virtues’...