Well done. You’ve made it. Today marks the tenth, and final, review of this year’s Diageo Special Releases. We started last Monday with Lagavulin 12yo, and worked our way through Caol Ila 18yo, Collectivum XXVIII, Teaninich 17yo, Glen Elgin 18yo, Blair Athol 23yo, Port Dundas 52yo, Convalmore 32yo and Brora 34yo. We end our series [...]...

Wrapping up the first week of the Diageo 2017 Special Releases reviews is an 18yo Glen Elgin matured entirely in ex-bodega European oak butts. Not a bad way to start a Friday, and certainly not a bad way to lead us into next week’s line-up which consists of Blair Athol 23yo, Port Dundas 52yo, Convalmore [...]...

So, this article was supposed to begin at the point below the dashes. And then I received the following press release at 9am this morning: “Port Ellen and Brora, two of the most revered ‘lost’ distilleries in the global spirits industry, are to be brought back to life in a powerful statement of confidence in [...]...

Well, thanks very much Diageo. Trying to torpedo my nicely constructed fortnight of reviews of your 2017 Special Releases by announcing you’re going to reopen Brora and Port Ellen?! Jerks. In all seriousness, that’s the biggest news to come out of the industry for a long long time, and it certainly caused the digital Twit-book-agram-osphere [...]...

A blended malt? In the Special Releases? What?! It’s true. This is the first time something other than a single malt or single grain whisky has made an appearance in the Special Releases. Containing whisky from all 28 of Diageo’s active malt distilleries, this a first for the collection. Commenting on this year’s Special Releases, [...]...

The fourth whisky to be explored from Diageo 2017 Special Releases is Teaninich, which this year is celebrating its 200th anniversary. Established in 1817 (in case you can’t do the maths) by ‘Blind’ Captain Hugh Munro, it went through a series of ownerships in the 1800s before being absorbed into the DCL stable in 1933. [...]...

I love a trip to the cinema. It’s literally the only time I eat popcorn and Maltesers… at the same time. Try it. Honestly, it’s a taste sensation. Oh, and blue slush puppies. Helluva combination… but I digress. Hitting cinemas a fortnight or so ago, Kingsman: The Golden Circle is the first film to have [...]...

Since the introduction of the peated Tomatin Cù Bòcan series back in 2013, several different expressions and vintages have been released, from NAS and mid-noughties vintages all the way though to distillates from the late 1980s. The most recent release is a 10 year old, consisting of whisky distilled in 2006. 50% seems to be [...]...

A new (or rather old) kid has appeared on the Dewar’s blended whisky block; Dewar’s 25yo which will replace Dewar’s Signature. It’s a pretty big move, y’know, replacing a no-age statement whisky with a one that has big juicy numbers on it. More and more these days that trend is the other way round. And [...]...

“Jason! Move away frae there with your book. Your fireside tartan isnae gonna get any better if ye’ lie there like that!” Those words, bellowed from the hallway, was one of the sentences that defined my childhood. I’d be lying there on the fake sheepskin rug in our living room whilst my two little brothers [...]...

You maj have seen from our social media channels recently that we were at Maltstock, a brilliantly geeky and super-chilled whisky festival held on the outskirts of Nijmegen in The Netherlands. Amongst all the other frivolities (and there were many) that weekend, there was a raffle which I was coerced into buying a few tickets [...]...

A couple of months ago I touched on just how varied the distillation processes and styles of spirit produced at Loch Lomond Distillery are. With pot stills, so-called ‘straight necked pot stills’ (Lomond stills?) and continuous stills, this distillery has the ability to produce quite a range of flavours and characteristics in both it’s malt [...]...

It’s rush hour at Waverley station and somehow I am actually feeling quite composed. Perhaps it’s because I’m not running the usual 7 and a half minutes behind where I should be, as is the norm. Perhaps it’s because I’ve already located the platform I need to head to without too much hassle. Or perhaps [...]...

After an absence of almost a decade, Glenmorangie Astar has returned! I remember the first time I tasted Astar, way back in 2008 not long after it was launched. I’d tasted the Glenmorangie 10yo Original and thought Astar (Gaelic for ‘journey’) was the Original on steroids. Genetically identical, but hit with a huge blast of [...]...

We hear names of distilleries of yesteryear, and depending on the depth of your pockets, you might be able to try some. The recently deceased distilleries of Imperial, Caperdonich, Pittyvaich and Littlemill can still be found for a decent price, but if you want to taste something slightly rarer like a Rosebank, St Magdalene, Brora [...]...

A couple wet and windy Tuesday nights ago, myself and The Drinks Lady ventured to Scotch at The Balmoral to seek solace and try a couple of interesting drams, and boy did we find one. Glenesk aka Highland Esk aka Montrose aka North Esk aka Hillside (*takes a deep breath*) was established in 1897 during [...]...

I think it’s fair to say Richard Paterson is a fan of wine casks, in any of their forms. White, red, sparkling, fortified… you name it and he’ll have fired some Dalmore spirit into it. I suppose it comes as no surprise, then, to learn that Dalmore have released a new trilogy of port finished [...]...

Jura Tastival, the isle of Jura’s equivalent to Islay’s Feis Ile, sees an annual one day party on the island’s only distillery. It is also the time for a limited edition release from the distillery, which usually offers consumers the chance to experience a unique twist and a different side to Jura whisky. Last year [...]...

Pot stills, Lomond stills, continuous stills… Loch Lomond distillery has them all, and half a dozen or so different whisky brands to go with them; Loch Lomond, Inchmurrin, Inchmoan, Old Rhosdhu, Craiglodge, Inchfad… Anyway, The Whisky Shop have bottled a 2001 single cask Loch Lomond which has spent all its life maturing in French Limousin [...]...

Blimey, where to begin. I feel as though this article should have a contents page, several chapters, a list of references and at least a couple of appendices. It’s all been happening up at Highland Park (and Copenhagen, more on that later) recently. Perhaps a brief overview is in order before we get stuck into [...]...