Last week, Struan Grant Ralph, Global Brand Ambassador for Glenfiddich stopped in our small country during one of his global tour for a series of events organized by the “Hacerem”, the local Glenfiddich Importer. The events focused on the Glenfiddich Experimental Series along with a bonus of rare view on the whisky making progress for Glenfiddich 21 Year Old Reserva Rum Cask Finish.

So it seemed like a good idea and timing to (finally) have an in-depth review of the Glenfiddich Project XX, so I sat down with Struan to discuss the experimental series, project XX and Glenfiddich in the...

Today under the microscope is the latest official release from Bunnahabhain distillery. Bunnahabhain Stiuireadair is a No-Age-Statement whisky but is also a fully sherried whisky in 1st and 2nd fill Sherry casks although I assume it’s mostly 2nd fill casks. The reason it was born was to replace the staple 12 year old in some markets and to live side-by-side in other markets. All towards the goal of preserving the precious aged stocks despite the rising demand for single Maltwhisky.

Does it work? Can it truly replace the 12 yo as a daily sipper and help preserve the aged...

Until recently, the only peated Balvenie we had were the long gone limited edition Balvenie Peated Cask 17 Year Old (which I reviewed a few years ago) and the Islay Cask 17 Year Old. But states has changed recently with two new peated Balvenies, both 14 year old expressions, were released to markets. The first is a Triple Cask 14 Year Old for Travel Retail market and a globally released 14 year old named Peat Week as Balvenie produces peated whisky for one week a year (and not every year), naturally called named ‘Peat Week’.

Today I’m checking out the...

It was confirmed earlier today that we will see some Octomores on the shelves here next month. Hurray! And while celebrating this piece of news, I’ve noticed that I had neglected to post notes for Octomore 7.1 while reviewing 7.2 , 7.3 and 7.4 , so it’s time to get it fixed.

Octomore 7.1 was the last Octomore that Jim McEwan did for Bruichladdich before he retired after more than 50 years in the industry. It was made using Scottish barley peated to a then high record of 208 ppm and then was matured for 5 years in American oak barrels....

Tasting and reviewing the Macallan Sienna , got me craving for some whiskies I didn’t taste in a long time. Yeah, you can definitely become nostalgic for drams you tasted earlier in your whisky journey and aren’t in your whisky cabinet at the moment.

So I decided to try another one or two whiskies from my archive which I didn’t review here yet, and the first one I went for was Glenmorangie 18 Year Old. Why? I assure you it’s not because it’s Extremely Rare like they claim it to be. it’s not that rare if you really wondered as...

Last week Macallan announced a new series with four expressions, all without age statement, in 4 different price points. Are you having some deja vu? Because I did.

For a moment I thought it must be some reposting of the original 1824 series announcement which incidentally happened exactly 4 years ago in oktober. But a second and deeper look revealed the truth of a new Travel Retail series which will completely replace the 1824 series and all other TR expression starting januari 2018.

But the discussion on this series in one of my whisky FB groups, turned to the 1824...

Last month Glen Scotia distillery, one of three Campbeltown distilleries, relaunched their Glen Scotia 18 Year Old expression. It’s replacing the old 18 Year old expression that exists since 2013 which maj be familiar to you because of the blue colors theme of the bottle and label (see image on the right).

So only 4 years later, the expression is coming back in a new and more mainstream-y (or perhaps should we see less avant-garde?) packaging and coloring. But the big news are that it also boasts a new liquid recipe. the old version was matured exclusively in ex-bourbon casks...

The core range of anCnoc whiskies is reaching our shores in a few weeks. AnCnoc (pronounced AH-nock) is the brand name for the whisky distilled in Knockdhu distillery from the Highlands region, The distillery is owned by Inverhouse Distillers who also control Old Pulteney, Balblair  and two more far less familiar distilleries.

Since Old Pulteney stopped producing the Old Pulteney 21 (now replaced by a far more expensive 25 year old whisky), the anCnoc 24 seems like a good candidate to replace the OP 21 as the matured and affordable whisky of choice in this region.

The anCnoc 24, released...

How about a Macallan review to close the weekend? Let’s have a look at Macallan Edition No.2, the second release in an annual limited edition in which Macallan partner with somebody to create this edition. In this case of the Macallan Edition No.2, it’s a collaboration between Macallan master blender Bob Dalgarno and the Spanish chefs Joan, Josep and Jordi Roca, co-founders of El Celler de Can Roca, which was twice named best restaurant in the world.

It’s a NAS whisky (no real surprise from Macallan of the last few years), with seven different oak cask types (European and American...

Today we’ll have a look at one of the two new Benromach whiskies, the Benromach Triple Distilled.  It’s a limited edition, distilled in 2009 in a wash still once and twice in a spirit still before being matured in first fill bourbon barrels.

Triple distillation usually means more delicatea and lighter spirit but we’re also having a strong first fill bourbon cask impact, so a Benromach for beginners?

Benromach 2009/2017 Triple Distilled (50%, £43.50 / €67.00 )

Nose : Light smoke and sweet honey, cereals youth, lots of pears and a bit of apricot, bananas, dry sooty smoke, white pepper, limestone...

Octomore OBA is not a normal Octomore release. In fact you could say it’s kind of a foster child of the family. It’s wasn’t released as a member of the annual series nor did it get any official numerical assignment (x.1 to x.4) but instead it was a separate release with irregular bottle size (which delayed the release).

It’s the Octomore version of the Black Art series (hence the OBA naming), 10 wine casks matured Octomore spirit with a secret recipe. Although Bruichladdich preaches transparency, when it comes to Black Art releases, the leaps are sealed. All we know that...

Today’s review is the 500th post of the blog (only took 4+ years), so I wanted to review something nice (and special) to celebrate the occasion. I rummaged through the samples boxes and came up with a few options but this old Speyburn that was sitting there for years growing cobwebs caught my attention as Speyburn distillery just announced a new 15 Year Old expression, so I thought to myself: why not review a Speyburn?

This 1975 Speyburn, bottled back in 2012 (37 Year Old) was exclusively available to Clan Speyburn, the community for Speyburn lovers. 320 bottles were bottled...

While Tobermory Distillery is closed for renovations lets have a look at Ledaig 19 Year Old marsala finish. It was distilled back in 1997 and then matured in bourbon barrels and then finished in marsala wine casks. It was bottled late 2016 before arriving to markets at the beginning of 2017.

I delayed (a lot!) with this review since they whisky was pretty harsh whisky when I initially tasted it but I believed it will be much better with oxidation. So it sat aside and waited for the right time that finally arrived.

Ledaig 19 Year Old marsala Wine Finish...

Today’s review is Inchmoan 12 Year Old, the peated sibling of Inchmurrin from Loch Lomond Distillery. It was distilled using the distillery traditional swan neck and their unique straight neck pot stills (Also known as Lomond Stills). m atured for 12 years in re-charred American oak and refill bourbon American oak casks. Bottled at 46% without chill-filtering (although with added caramel). At the moment it’s only available at UK shops but global distribution will follow in the coming months.

Inchmoan 12 Year Old (46%,  £44.45 )

Nose : Malt and cereals, bright sweetness with touches of floral and vegetal edges, honey,...

Following the Glentauchers 2008 review that opened the weekend, we’ll end the weekend with another young whisky bottled for Whisky In Leiden 2017 festival.

And it’s one from the other side of the spectrum, opposite of the sherried Speyside there’s a peated Islay malt so nobody get bored. This whisky was distilled in maj 2011, matured in refill hogshead (cask 9313) and bottled in early 2017, yielding 306 bottles.

The Exclusive Malts Islay Malt 2011 5 Year Old (Whisky in Leiden 2017) (57.7%, €54,99 )

Nose : Sharp oak spices, malt and peat smoke, then honey and vanilla, dry yet...

For the weekend I’m going to focus on two young whiskies bottled by The Exclusive Malts Company (founded by David Stirk), selected and bottled for the Whisky In Leiden 2017 festival back in april (The 2018 Festival will be held on april 14th 2018).

First one up is a young sherry bomb speysider from Glentauchers Distillery. It was distilled in mars 2008, matured in an ex-Sherry Butt #900179 and 250 bottles at 53.5% were bottled for the occasion.

The Exclusive Malts Glentauchers 2008 8 Year Old (Whisky in Leiden 2017) (53.5%,  €54,99 )

Nose : Strong oakiness at first, sour...

A new wave of Octomores is hitting the shelves with Octomore 8.1 and with 3 more releases (8.2, 8.3 and 8.4) coming till januari. So it’s a good time to clear the “waiting for review” shelf from older Octomores and so we have a review of Octomore 7.3.

Like with previous x.3 Octomores, it’s Islay barley Octomore and in fact could be called Local Barley Octomore as the barley was grown in Octomore farm. It was distilled back in 2010 and peated to 169 ppm, aged in bourbon barrels and red wine casks from Ribera del Duero in Spain.

Bruichladdich Octomore...

I’ll never get bored of the Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength series. I love Laphroaig and those whiskies usually deliver the Laph profile dialed up to the max. I tasted a few earlier batches (although I only published a review on Batch 7 ), so now it’s time to review Batch 8 and eventually I hope to catch up to the latest Batch 9 before the next edition will be released

Laphroaig 10 Year Old Cask Strength Batch #008 (59.2%, $65.00)

Nose : Soft peat smoke with short lived acrid burn note (that thankfully disappeared quickly), vanilla and honey, sweet fresh...

A bit late but better now than never, here’s my review on Compass Box Spice Tree Extravangaza that was released a while ago.

This is a special edition to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Compass Box’s regular Spice Tree. In short, they use the same concept but used older whisky and with added sherry cask influence. As you can see from the ingredients list below, it’s 60% Clynelish, 20% Dailuaine and 20% Teaninch. If you want to know how old is each whisky, just go to the official page here and press the “Request Recipe” button, but I will tell you...

Today’s review is the entry level from Springbank distillery, the 10 year old offering that sometimes sneak below the radar as the 12 Year Old Cask Strength batches catch most of the lime lights.

The review was conducted on a bottle that was bottled in september 2016 (with the older label design), although I think the profile didn’t change much with the newer 2017 batches. And in order to make it interesting, I’ll review the 10 year old from 10 years ago (10 and 10, got it?) to see how did it change over the years.

Springbank 10 Year Old...