Last review was a Bruichladdich Port Charlotte and on its heels is another peated Bruicladdich review. This time, the latest offering in the Octomore series – Octomore 7.2

Like in previous Octomore releases, the x.2 suffix means some fancy/special wine finish (For example: Octomore 6.2 was Cognac finish) and this time it’s a Syrah wine (from  the  Northern Rhone Valley) finish.

Bruichladdich Octomore 7.2 (58.5%,  €154.99 )

Nose : Restrained and smooth peat, vanilla, sweet red berries that slowly develop into a formidable dry red wine impact but the it’s beautifully balanced with the peat. There’s a strong back-end of...

The Limburg Whisky Fair is the ultimate happening for whisky nerds. This is probably the only place where you can find thousands of rare bottles – old and new. The festival is located in the small town Limburg in Germany, and attracts about 6-7000 people over two days (Saturday and Sunday). You will find only […]...

Towiemore Classic Selection, NAS, 43 % We have a brand new whisky on our test bench today. This is the first release in a new series called Classic Selection, from The Lost Distillery Company. All the expressions in this series are bottled at 43 % ABV, and they are not chill-filtered. Furthermore they are all […]...

I’m too busy with work and big life projects, so there wasn’t much activity on the blog, so a big apology to you my readers. In the meanwhile, until load is back to normal (sometime in september), I’ll probably stick to quick reviews and tasting notes posts.

The Port Charlotte Islay Barley was released last oktober and is a logical next step after the very successful and liked Scottish Barley version which I reviewed here . This time it’s pure Islay product.

Bruichladdich Port Charlotte Islay Barley 2008 (50%,  £54.95 / €55.95 )

Nose : Starts with a strong peat note...

Glengoyne Cask Strength, NAS, 58,9 % I have given you my tasting notes on a couple of the SMWS whiskies I tasted at The Bon Accord in Glasgow some weeks ago. That very same evening I tasted a Glengoyne Cask Strength. This was batch 002. The Glengoyne Distillery is located just outside Glasgow, but there […]...

Bowmore Black Rock is part of the distillery’s travel retail range. It was matured predominantly in Spanish ex-sherry casks.

Actually it’s part of a trilogy, alongside Bowmore Gold Reef and Bowmore White Sands, both ex-bourbon wood.

Bowmore Black Rock (40%, OB 2014, travel retail)

Nose: not entirely fresh sherry, which luckily isn’t too loud. A bit of rubber, some organic notes as well. Toffee notes, pepper and cinnamon. Milk chocolate with hints of vanilla. Light smoke. Mouth: oily, with some salty peat, a bit of iodine and stewed fruits. Cocoa sweetness. Soft spices and an ever so light smoky...

Nordic Whisky #38 – Smögen 2011 4 YO Single Cask #7/2011, 57,3 % The Swedish west coast distillery Smögen Distillery is staying busy. Their whiskies are still very young, at 3-4 YO, but that does not stop them from releasing top quality product. They are not alone in this, of course, as a number of […]...

A new batch of whiskies will be launched for sale in Norway on Friday maj 8. We are treated to a total of 44 whiskies this time. As usual we have linked to our reviews for the ones we have already tested. Very interesting this month are the two exclusives for Norway; Arran OddPopp and […]...

Breaker Bourbon Whisky – Batch No. 05, 5 YO, 45 % The craft distillery Ascendant Spirits in Buellton, California, opened in mars 2013. My timing back then was quite perfect, as I got to visit the distillery just a few weeks later (see article here). I also got to try batch 1 of their Breaker […]...

Port Ellen 6th Release, 27 YO, 54,3 % Port Ellen is a distillery long gone. But we still like to taste the nice whiskies from the distillery. My husband bought a small bottle of the 6th Release when he visited Islay. We finished the bottle as an Easter gift to ourselves. The whisky was distilled […]...

Clynelish 1971 35 Yo Platinum Selection, 46,5 % We start off with an old expression from independent bottler Douglas Laing. This is from their most exclusive series at the time. The Clynelish 1971 35 YO Platinum Selection was distilled in 1971 and bottled back in 2006. There is no specification on the type of cask […]...

Tobermory 1994 18 YO Adelphi Selection, 58,8 % Today we present a single cask release from independent bottler Adelphi. The Tobermory 1994 18 YO Adelphi Selection was distilled in 1994, matured in a sherry butt (cask #675031), and bottled in 2013. The total outturn was 604 bottles. This whisky is available to buy in Norway at […]...

The term ‘legend’ is one which is bandied around rather too freely these days. There are, however, a few figures who richly deserve that accolade. Jim McEwan is one. After 52 years in whisky, he has announced that he will be retiring. It seems a strange term to see, as “retiring” is hardly the term anyone would ever use to describe Jim. Countless whisky lovers the world over have been educated and entertained with his stories, peppered with the surreal absurdity of Scottish west coast humor, stories which grew longer and more hilarious with each retelling.

His whisky life started...

Since 2009 The Glenturret distillery is regularly doing runs of peated whisky, mainly intended for use in the group’s Black Grouse blend.

The Whisky Shop managed to get three exclusive editions of The Glenturret in 2014: Glenturret Triple Wood , Glenturret Sherry Edition and Glenturret Peated Edition .

The Glenturret Peated Edition (40%, OB for The Whisky Shop 2014)

Nose: very creamy and lightly peated, I guess smoothness was a priority here. There’s a tarry note and corrugated cement board. Popcorn sweetness and apples. Sweet biscuity notes and a little chocolate. Mouth: again smooth and easy-going. Toffee, soft...

Recently  Liquid Treasures selected two bottlings for their importer S.Y.C. Vino & Cigar Company in Taiwan. A Tullibardine 1990 and this Strathmill 1990 . We had some really good Strathmill expressions in the past few years, especially those produced in 1974, but it’s still a rare and sometimes unreliable name.

Strathmill 23 yo 1990 (50,5%, Liquid Treasures for SYC Vino & Cigar Taiwan 2014, hogshead, 189 btl.)

Nose: an intensely… neutral whisky. I get some yellow apples and oranges, but mostly malt and grains. Bread, beer, these things. Faint vanilla. Also wet gravel and hay. Mouth: rounder at first,...

There you have it, I was elected Best Whisky Blogger of the Year 2015 , as part of this year’s International Whisky Competition which awards outstanding whiskies as well as bars, brand ambassadors and master distillers.

This was the first time there was a Best Whisky Blogger award. The organisation presented a shortlist of 20 candidates, from which the general public could pick their favourite by sending an e-mail. I came out in the top-5 – a sincere thank you to all of you who supported me.

We were then asked to send our best article of the past six...