A couple of years ago, Mark Pendlebury started Whiskybrother in Johannesburg, possibly the first serious whisky shop in South Africa.

A few months ago, he selected a cask of Glenlivet 1998 from the Signatory stocks. This Oloroso butt has been bottled exclusively for his shop.

Glenlivet 15 yo 1998 (54,8%, Signatory Vintage for Whiskybrother 2014, Oloroso sherry butt #128811, 413 btl.)

Nose: aromatic forest fruit jams (bramble, blackcurrant), alongside chocolate coated raisins, dates and candied orange. Cigar leaves. Some peppery oak and bread crust. Hints of ham, majbe a trace of rubber as well. Classic first-fill sherry, with...

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Tormore 16 Year Old was released in ‘limited quantities’ after a restyling of the distillery range, which now includes a 14yo and 16yo.

I’ve always thought Tormore was a beautiful distillery. Built in 1958, it combines the traditional architecture with a certain 20th Century industrial look.

Did you know the clock on the distillery roof plays four different Scottish songs every quarter of an hour?

Tormore 16 yo (48%, OB 2013, Batch #B1309, American oak casks)

Nose: quite nice actually, with lots of juicy fruits. Oranges and apples, melons, hints of kiwi. Soft nutty notes, mainly pecans. Sweet...

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Nikka Gold & Gold, NAS, 43 % I Japan er det ikke noe, eller særdeles lite, samarbeid mellom destilleriene. Dette innebærer at dersom et destilleri har lyst til å lage en blend, må destilleriet selv produsere de ulike typer whisky som skal inngå i blenden. Nikka Whisky er et av Japans største destillerier og produserer […]...

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From the latest series Early Flying , released by The Whisky Agency , comes this Littlemill 1991 .

Littlemill 23 yo 1991
(48%, The Whisky Agency ‘Early Flying’ 2014, refill hogshead, 275 btl.)

Nose: an oily one, with paraffin and hints of porridge up front. Some muesli and oak shavings. Hints of (wet) hay, as well as some herbal notes (dried thyme). Fair enough, but not really the fruity kind of Littlemill that we’ve come to adore. Mouth: more to my liking, I must say. Plenty of citrus notes, grapefruit juice, tangerines, hints of papaya. A little green...

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Eight years ago, Heaven Hill distillery launched a yearly release called Parker’s Heritage Collection (named after Master Distiller Parker Beam), which offers a look into the best of their production at different ages and with different mash bills (though usually a bourbon).

In 2014 they presented a 13 years old cask strength wheat whiskey , taken from the first batch of Bernheim Original ever produced in september 2000. Being a straight wheat whiskey, it uses at least 51% of soft winter wheat in its recipe, alongside 39% corn and 10% barley.

Parker’s Heritage Wheat whiskey 13 yo 2000...

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Ardbeg Kildalton is the latest release from this Islay distillery. The name refers to the famous 1200 year-old cross and Ardbeg already used it for 1980/1981 vintage expressions released first in 2004. It was known for having an unusually low peat level.

The Kildalton 2014 release follows the same rules as most distilleries lately: no age statement, fancy packaging and a lot of story-telling to support it. It is created from bourbon and sherry casks.

Ardbeg Kildalton (46%, OB 2014)

Nose: quite rounded. There’s clean soot and earthy smoke, but also honeyed notes and a slight vanilla...

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Lord Elcho 15 YO, 40 % Lord Elcho is a blended whisky from Wemyss Malts. The Lord Elcho 15 YO was first released in september 2012. It contains 60 % grain and 40 % Maltwhisky. You can purchase the Lord Elcho 15 YO in Norway at NOK 861 (item number 1594501), and in Sweden […]...

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Tamdhu 1984 27 YO Adelphi, 51,2 % Tamdhu distillery is one (of many) distilleries I yet have a lot to explore. Last week I got a chance to taste a 27 YO Tamdhu from the independent bottler Adelphi. I have shared my tasting notes on one Tamdhu earlier; Tamdhu 1994 16 YO Chieftain’s Choice. My experience […]...

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We just learned that Beam Suntory is releasing a new bourbon — another one! — and while it’s very affordable at $24 the bottle, it’s also pretty special. Jim Beam Bonded is the first new bottled in bond bourbon (that I know of) that’s been released in years. It’s good to see Beam’s keeping this new bonded in the general price range, too.

If you’re not clear on what makes a bourbon “bottled in bond,” here’s a quick rundown. As well as conforming to all the regular rules for bourbon, all the spirit in the bottle must have been distilled...

Läs mer http://whiskyadvocate.com/whisky/2015/01/16/beam-releasing-new-bonded-bourbon/

I got a box from Michael Reppucci at Sons Of Liberty Spirits in Rhode Island last week. I’d reviewed some of their whiskeys before, noting that their take on craft distilling is to take craft beers and distill and age them. He was reaching out with “an experience that we think is pretty freaking cool.” Turned out that I agreed, because what they’d done was take two of the “beers” they make to distill, and instead, carbonated and bottled them. You know, like beer . The idea was to try the beers with the whiskeys.

In the box were four...

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Hazelburn 2002 11 YO Society Bottling, 54,4 % This is a special bottling for the Springbank Society. The Hazelburn 2002 11 YO Soceity Bottling was distilled in december 2002, and bottled in oktober 2014. It has been matured in a fresh bourbon barrel, and the total outturn was 204 bottles. Nose (23/25): Malty, rich, with […]...

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After the success of the GlenDronach 1993 cask #33 , a shop bottling for Abbey Whisky , they were looking for a successor. They selected a cask from the next vintage: GlenDronach 1994 cask #3400 which was a PX puncheon.

GlenDronach 20 yo 1994 (54,8%, OB for Abbey Whisky 2014, Pedro Ximénez puncheon #3400, 672 btl.)

Nose: slightly winey but very forthcoming. Baked apples, fig syrup, rum & raisins (tons of raisins really). Hints of vanilla – American oak sherry cask. Sticky toffee pudding. Hints of strawberries with milk chocolate. Soft oriental spices underneath: cinnamon and cardamom, as...

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Littlemill Distillery was a Lowland distillery established back in 1772 (probably), making it one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland – possibly (probably?) until it closed.  It changed owners many times, and had several periods during which it was closed. Production stopped for the last time in 1994. Most of the remnants of the distillery were destroyed […]...

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Kirsty Wark has been a television presenter for nearly 30 years; her debut novel was published in 2014

We caught up with Newsnight presenter and author Kirsty Wark to discuss her love of Scotch whisky, what she likes to drink, and how she drinks it.

What’s your earliest memory of whisky?
My memories of whisky are from a very early age. My father would go fly fishing, most often on the River Doon on Saturdays, and when he came home he would pour a whisky and soak in the bath. He was fond of Highland Park . When I was little...

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