Irish Malt 1993 & Bowmore 1998 – The Whisky Agency for TWE

The Whisky Agency will release two whiskies exclusively bottled for The Whisky Exchange . Both focus on the fruitier end of the spectrum:

• Irish single malt 1993 (24yo, matured in a barrel, 48.2%) – € 315
• Bowmore 1998 (19yo, matured in a butt, 48.8%) – € 250

I will publish my review early next week, but I can already tell you both whiskies have generous tropical fruit notes. Keep your eyes peeled, it’s easy to predict they won’t last long.

Game of Thrones single Maltwhisky...

This is the first of a pair of Whisky Exchange exclusives bottled by The Whisky Agency : Bowmore 1998 . Although it was matured in a sherry butt, the colour doesn’t indicate much sherry influence. This should focus on the fruitier end of the spectrum.

Bowmore 19 yo 1998 (48,8%, The Whisky Agency for The Whisky Exchange 2018, sherry butt, 187 btl.)

Nose: a particularly fresh version. Starts on roots, bandages, sea spray and some peppermint. Then candied notes come to the fore: Haribo bears, hints of mango puree and pineapple cubes. Very subtle peat smoke. Great so...

Another one from Cadenhead’s Cask Strength series (white label). A very rare Allt-A-Bhainne 1980 (pronounced olt-er-vaine). Remember this is only around 12 years of age.

Alt-A-Bhainne (60.5%, Cadenhead’s Cask Strength 1992, white label, cask #100027)

Nose: chocolate coated candied orange, but also sour cherries, raspberry jam and hints of moist wood. Leafy notes, subtle tobacco. Some raisins underneath. A very light meaty character. There’s a chalky note but other than that, fairly classic. I’m not getting the funky farmy notes that Serge got. Mouth: powerful and rather oak influenced. Peppery heat, grasses, but there are flashes of jammy...

Since 2003 Glencadam distillery has been owned by Angus Dundee Distillers Plc who also launched the first single malt expression in 2005. Glencadam Origin 1825 was released in 2016 as their first NAS expression.

It is matured in American white oak bourbon casks and finished in Oloroso sherry butts.

Glencadam Origin 1825 (40%, OB +/- 2017)

Nose: rather synthetic banana ice cream, oatcakes and whiffs of glue and turpentine. Not as bad as it sounds. Fresh oak shavings. Evolves towards tinned pineapple and coconut flakes. Tuttifrutti candy. Light floral notes, hints of citrus. Mouth: far less exciting. Still...

Yes, this review is late, but I sometimes feel it’s useless to post Local Barley reviews. They are sold out seconds after they appear online. Many of them are snatched by flippers but at least the whiskies have some real substance.

This is the third release in the renewed Local Barley series. It was distilled from Belgravia barley grown 6 kilometers away from the distillery at the West Back Farm. It’s a slightly more modern and more popular grain compared to the previous editions.

For this 10 year-old, Springbank used 70% bourbon and 30% sherry casks.

Springbank 10...

This Bowmore 18 Year Old replaced the 17 year old, which was phased out a few years ago. Mind that there is a different version, also 18 years old but with a subtitle “deep and complex”, only available in travel retail.

Bowmore 18 yo (43%, OB +/- 2018)

Nose: nice combination of dried seaweed and tobacco with chocolate and (overripe) blood oranges. Toffee caramel. Blackberries and cassis. Hints of rubber as well, but they disappear after a while. Gentle peat. Hints of burnt pineapple. Mouth: quite sweet and fruity, but I find it a little thin nonetheless. Lots...

GlenDronach 15 Years ‘Revival’ (2018)

GlenDronach submitted the label for the new batch of their GlenDronach 15 Years Revival . As you know, the distillery was mothballed from 1996 until maj 2002, which means they had to use much older casks to maintain the 15 Years and in 2015 had to stop bottling it entirely.

It will now come back, composed entirely around post-2002 casks filled by the new owners. We’re eager to see how it changed, as the new label mentions Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez casks instead of just Oloroso, and some technical parameters changed as well: no more...

The chaps from the Edinburgh Whisky Blog are on the label of this Glen Keith 24 Years from That Boutique-y Whisky Company . I don’t know why, it’s often some kind of inside joke.

Glen Keith 24 yo (49,1%, That Boutique-y Whisky Co. 2018, Batch #5, 377 btl.)

Nose: typical Glen Keith, showing warm, juicy fruits. Nectarines, plums, green apple, light papaya. Jelly babies. It’s not all Haribo style though, as there is a light grassy edge and fresh oak underneath. A light waxy note as well. Mouth: again very fruity with a nice sweet and sour balance....

Another one of these new brands that try to surf the wave of Japanese whisky .

This is created by the little-known Matsui Shuzou, originally a sake and shochu producer founded in 1910. Don’t let them fool you though: like most of these unknown names, the Kurayoshi range consists of blended malts, made with Scotch whiskies (!) shipped over to Japan, where they are blended with small portions of local whisky. Mind that  Japanese whisky is not a clearly defined category so we can’t be sure of the nature of the spirits used: all kinds of grain spirits (even mixed...

A new Teeling 1998 single cask has arrived in Belgium. It is bottled from a  rum cask selected by The Nectar.

Teeling 19 yo 1998 (52,3%, OB for The Nectar 2018, single rum cask #100053)

Nose: great freshness. Starts on light honey, dandelions, then some tangerines, lemons, lemons and nectarines. Golden sultanas and some rummy sweetness in the background. Hints of vanilla and oak. Mouth: quite syrupy at first, majbe that’s the rum speaking, but it bursts open with fruits. Mango, pink grapefruit, papayas and banana candy. One passion fruit. A subtle green note and oak spices towards...

The seventh batch of GlenDronach Cask Strength , matured in their classic a combination of Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez sherry casks and bottled at the end of maj.

GlenDronach Cask Strength (57,9%, OB 2018, Batch #7)

Nose: lots of toffee and treacle notes, with gingerbread and walnut cream. Chestnuts and corn flakes. Roasted malt. Blackberries, sultanas and Spanish fig bread. mars bars. Just very light hints of oxo. Sherried of course, but not a classic sherry bomb as it’s mostly on the earthy / caramelly side, with a lot of malty notes underneath. Mouth: sweet and malty. Also...

This is a Swedish Maltwhisky from Box distillery (soon to be renamed High Coast distillery to avoid confusion with Compass Box). Box Quercus I is the first release in a series that focuses on different types of oak, in this case European oak or Quercus Robur .

This 2012 spirit was matured for four years in 200-litre first-fill bourbon casks before being finished for seven months in 40-litre virgin Swedish oak casks . There’s a very detailed PDF on the Box website .

Box Quercus II is based around Quercus Alba.

Box Quercus I ‘Robur’ (50,8%, OB...

A lot of really old Glen Grant expressions on this website, even from the 1940s and 1950s but very little current-day officials, which tend to live under my radar.

Glen Grant 18 Years is currently the oldest in the core range (the 25 and others are part of the limited editions. It is matured in bourbon and sherry casks. For Jim Murray this was the best Scotch whisky in his 2017 Bible.

Glen Grant 18 yo (43%, OB +/- 2017)

Nose: almost entirely on golden apples and juicy pears. Some bourbonny oak, including a floral note (light potpourri)....

Scallywag Chocolate Edition

It’s World Chocolate Day today and Douglas Laing celebrates with the launch of a Scallywag Chocolate Edition , a limited edition vintage 2009 matured predominantly in Spanish sherry butts. This results in deep cocoa and red fruit notes, perfect for pairing with high quality chocolate.

Just 300 bottles are available, bottled at 48% ABV.

Glenmorangie Allta

Glenmorangie Allta will be the tenth Private Edition from Glenmorangie . This whisky is created with the wild yeast that grows on their own barley fields near the distillery. It is said to result in a rich and fruity...

This Springbank 21 Years was botted by That Boutique-y Whisky Company . It was drawn from Madeira casks , which apparently were also used in the recipe of this year’s Springbank 21 bottled for the Open Day 2018.

It seems Springbank experimented a lot with Madeira wood around 1996-1997.

Springbank 21 yo (47,5%, That Boutique-y Whisky Company 2018, Batch #8, 911 btl.)

Nose: classic Springbank, showing dusty leather, lamp oil, hints of ‘clean’ flints and roasted nuts. Then more towards orange marmalade and dried figs, apricots, strawberry jam and Christmas cake. Delicate smoke. Cinnamon pastry, roasted chestnuts and...

If you asked me to make a shortlist of distilleries that have the nicest looking bottles, then Bruichladdich would be in it. I know, it’s not what matters most, but I do like the modern typography and bold colours. Too many whisky brands are taking the conservative (fake artisan) route when it comes to their identity.

They’ve now invested a lot of time in the new Port Charlotte 10 Year Old , which comes in a new type of dumpy bottle with dark green glass and heavily embossed lettering at the back. There’s something army-style to it, which suits this...

Here are two Glenrothes bottlings from the young series by Valinch & Mallet . One is bourbon matured, the other one is bottled from a sherry cask.

Glenrothes 9 yo 2009 (53%, Valinch & Mallet ‘Brotherhood Collection’ 2018, bourbon hogshead, 234 btl.)

Nose: a slightly milky nose, with hints of vanilla yoghurt and custard. Peaches and stewed apples, fresh butter and something faintly waxy. Just a hint of Panettone, as well as some marzipan and yellow flowers. Mouth: fruity and sweet, hints of pear juice but also a slight bitterness of ginger and herbs. Vanilla sauce. Parsley, apple...

Compass Box Delilah’s XXV is made to commemorate the 25th birthday of the Chicago bar Delilah’s. Compass Box already made a blend for them five years ago, and a small leftover parcel of this recipe was further matured and forms the base of the new release.

The original blend (29%) was made with Teaninich and Glen Elgin , plus grain from Cameronbridge . It was further matured in refill hogsheads. This remaining 71% is a new mix of Maltwhisky whisky from Miltonduff, Teaninich, Linkwood, an undisclosed distillery located close to the town of Aberlour, and Cameronbridge again.

 ...

People keep telling me I should try recent Edradour whisky, especially from sherry casks, to overcome my long-time aversion towards the brand. I tried too many sulphury examples when I became serious about whisky.

Here’s a sherry butt distilled in 2008 , in the Ultimate series by van Wees .

Edradour 8 yo 2008 (60,4%, van Wees ‘The Ultimate’ 2016, sherry butt #118, 696 btl.)

Nose: deep sherry, with truckloads of prune liqueur and dried figs. Raisins. Some caramelized nuts and tobacco. A bit of a damp, earthy undertone as well, and a few struck matches, especially when...

Mortlach 12 / 16 / 20 Year Old

Mortlach is working on a restructuring of its range and they’re expanding / replacing the age statements. We’ve seen labels for a Mortlach 12 year-old ‘The Wee Witchie’, a 16 year-old ‘Distiller’s Dram’ and a top of the range 20 year-old ‘Cowie’s Blue Sea’. All three bottled at 43.4% ABV.

I expect the baseline Mortlach Rare Old to remain and the others to replace existing 18 and 25 years expressions. Now if only their pricing was a bit more reasonable…

Octomore 09.x ‘Dialogos’

A new range of Octomore bottlings has...