This is a late 1980’s bottling of Ardbeg 1974 in the Connoisseurs Choice series from Gordon & MacPhail . Many expressions from this legendary vintage have been bottled with a CC label, but this is probably the first (youngest) of them all, with the classic brown label.

Until 1974, Ardbeg relied almost entirely on its own maltings to produce peated malt. After that it started to use more external malt and the maltings were closed down entirely in 1977. Therefore 1974 is widely considered the end of a style era.

Ardbeg 13 yo 1974 (40%, Gordon & MacPhail...

Next in line is a review of the old NAS offering from Springbank which was discontinued, the Springbank CV and along with it we’ll review the Longrow CV which was replaced (or merely renamed) with Longrow Peated.

The CV name stands for Curriculum Vitae. Yes, similar to what’s going on with job interviews, it’s called this way as there’s a long road behind it – a vatting of different casks types and styles (bourbon, sherry and port wine) and different ages (7,10,14 years).

Springbank CV (46%, €33.95 )

Nose : apples,pears, coconut, vanilla custard, spiciness, white pepper at first that it calms down and...

Mackmyra Moment Medvind, NAS, 48,6 % Mackmyra Moment Medvind (Tailwind) was the first release in the Moment whisky series from Mackmyra. It was bottled and released in december 2010 and was a limited release of 967 bottles. This is a medium peated release from Mackmyra, which means we should detect the very characteristic juniper smoke. […]...

Arette Gran Clase Extra Añejo, age, 50 % My interest for whisky has made me curious about other spirits as well. Tequila is one of the spirits that can be enjoyed the same way as whisky; room temperature and in a Glencairn glass. I do not know a lot about tequila, but I do know […]...

Yamazaki Distiller’s Reserve , the youngest expression in the core range, is a mix of young spirit matured in red wine casks with +/- 20 years old malt from sherry casks and some 12 years old malt from Mizunara casks.

Yamazaki Distiller’s Reserve (43%, OB 2014)

Nose: quite attractive, a little on the soft side but nicely fruity (strawberries with cream, red berries, lemon candy) with some coconut flakes. A lot of vanilla ice cream. Interestingly there’s also the typical oriental touch, with sandalwood, floral notes, incense and ginger. Mouth: sweet and spicy. Peaches on syrup, raspberries and...

I admit I don’t have much experience with official releases of The Glenlivet . I will try to remember that the next time I order a bunch of samples.

Anyway here’s the Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve , launched in mars and named in honour of the distillery’s founder, George Smith. It is supposed to replace the pretty iconic Glenlivet 12 Year Old by summer. One of the best selling malt whiskies in the world is replaced, at least in a list of key markets.

When people lamented over this news, Glenlivet’s brand ambassador said the Founder’s Reserve is ‘more vibrant than...

Too many Springbank tasting notes with cobwebs on them so let’s have a Springbank week here on the blog. We’ll start with a blend, Spirit of Freedom 30 Year Old, which isn’t a true Springbank but is produced by J & A Mitchell, the owners of Springbank and probably contains some old Springbank spirit in it.

Spirit of Freedom was released to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 which is a big and important milestone for Scotland (read about it  at Wikipedia as we’re focusing on whisky here :))

It is composed of 75% Maltwhisky (from...

Highland Park 1966 12 YO, 43,4 % This whisky was bottled by independent bottler Averys of Bristol Ltd., for the US market. As far as I have been able to determine this independent bottler is no longer active. The latest bottling I have found from them is from 1983. The Highland Park 1966 12 YO […]...

You all know Longrow is the double distilled, peated single malt from Springbank distillery. It’s been a while since I tried the 2011 edition , so let’s try the latest version.

Longrow 18 yo (46%, OB 2014)

Nose: dry cigar ashes, with hints of flax and wet limestone. Some fruity notes (apples, majbe papaya) but they are a bit hidden behind a greasy / oily layer. A hint of vanilla. Tobacco leaves. Some wet earth too. Mouth: sweeter and more syrupy than expected, with stewed apples, plums and a hint of vanilla custard. Walnut cake. An uncommon combination...

The other day I was invited to a Mortlach press dinner in Brussels, where the three new core expressions of The Beast of Dufftown had their Benelux premiere. I was a bit surprised, as the revamped Mortlach have been available internationally since april 2014. Such regional differences are difficult to enforce when everyone has access to the internet and is buying pretty much everywhere, right?

See my post about the Mortlach 18 Year Old for more background information.

It was a great experience with nice people and some good food pairing (I liked the coffee sauce with the...

Port Ellen 1982 26 YO OMC, 50 % Port Ellen is a closed Islay distillery. I have been lucky enough to taste quite a few of them and usually find them to be very good. Todays whisky was a part of the peaty lineup The Ladies’ Share had earlier this year. We tasted the Port Ellen […]...

Girvan Patent Still No. 4 Apps, NAS, 42 % Last year William Grant & Sons launched a brand new line of single grain whisky from their Girvan Distillery. This distillery is becoming quite a hub for the company: The Girvan Distillery on the Ayrshire coast produces one of the industry’s finest and most sought after […]...

Bruichladdich Octomore 07.1 Scottish Barley, 5 YO, 59,5 % Call the fire brigade! We have another Octomore on our hands! Finally the Bruichladdich Octomore 07.1 Scottish Barley is here. Strangely enough the distillery released the 07.2 months before the 07.1 hit the shelves. Probably some strange logistics snag somewhere in the intricate release process. If […]...

Miltonduff 1981 32 YO Cask #5066, 53,1 % A fairly old Speysider is on the stage today. It is my pleasure to present the Miltonduff 1981 32 YO Cask #5066 from independent bottler Adelphi. This single cask whisky was distilled back in 1981, the year we were graced with Celebration by Kool and The Gang, 9 To […]...