Whisky Troef is a whisky club from the north of Belgium, which also happens to be the region of Jürgen Vromans who is behind The Whisky Mercenary . Their latest club bottling is this Ben Nevis 1996 .

Ben Nevis 18 yo 1996 (50,9%, The Whisky Mercenary for Whisky Troef 2014, 100 btl.)

Nose: fairly light, but quite a lot happening right away. Starts on subtle grainy / grassy notes and youthful citrus, but evolves nicely towards slightly tropical fruits. Hints of guava and banana. Kiwi. Some rummy touches as well, nice. Typical waxy overtones. Mouth: immediately lemony, with...

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Cardhu 18 Years is different from the 12 Year Old in the fact that it was partly matured in sherry casks. Its price is relatively low compared to the limited edition Cardhu 21 Year Old released last year.

Cardhu 18 yo (40%, OB 2014)

Nose: in line with other Cardhu expressions. Pretty neutral that is. Vanilla fudge, sweet malt, apples and oranges. Hay. This time also nice roasted pineapple and dried flowers. Mouth: sweet and spicy, but in a slightly disjointed way. Fairly underpowered as well. Plenty of honey. Toffee and caramel. Vanilla biscuits. Chocolate, mocha and soft earthy...

Läs mer http://www.whiskynotes.be/2015/cardhu/cardhu-18-year-old/

Mackmyra Midvinter, NAS, 46,1 % Finally I have the time to review the third of the whiskies in the new Season Series from Mackmyra. As far as I know this was the first release in this new series which also includes Midnattssol and Iskristall. Mackmyra Midvinter has received a finish from French Bordeaux casks, glühwine casks (mulled […]...

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Chances are you’ve heard of Chartreuse , even if you’ve never tasted it. A staple of many of my generation’s parents’ and grandparents’ drinks cabinets, it’s been referenced in films from Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes to Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof , where his character Warren says: ‘Chartreuse, the only liqueur so good they named a colour after it.’

The original recipe for the herbal elixir, dating from 1605

The famous liqueur can trace its origins to 1605 when French diplomat François Hannibal d’Estrées gifted a manuscript to the silent order of Carthusian monks at their monastery in Vauvert (near Paris), setting...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2015/01/chartreuse-the-elixir-of-silent-life/

Glenmorangie likes to call The Taghta a ‘crowd-sourced’ whisky. Almost all of its characteristics (name, cask type, graphic identity…) were decided by its fans in online polls. An interesting concept, although you could ask how reliable it is for the general public to decide on things like a cask type – most will not have tasted the different options beforehand.

Glenmorange The Taghta is finished in Manzanilla sherry casks – an unusual choice for whisky maturation in general, and an unusual choice when coming from such a large panel. The Taghta means The Chosen .

...

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Whisky-Fässle and Whiskybase / Archives were already related in the sense that both bottlers / retailers were selling each others whiskies. They are regularly releasing similar casks and now they’ve even shared one, a 23 years old Auchentoshan 1990 .

I really like the way they also ‘exchanged’ labels. The Archives bottle features a duck while the Whisky-Fässle version has an exotic fish. The duck of Samoa, is it? Really nice guys.

Auchentoshan 23 yo 1990 (47,7%, Whisky-Fässle & Whiskybase 2014, hogshead #6850)

Nose: fresh and inviting yet not too clean. There’s a nice fruity side of oranges...

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Here are a couple of reasonably priced Islay whiskies that I have somehow missed over the years. These are from an undisclosed Islay distillery, but I have it from good authority that we are talking about young and feisty whisky from Lagavulin Distillery. The Independent Bottler The Highlands & Islands apparently entered into a long […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/ileach-cask-strength-vs-peaty/

Hazelburn 10 YO, 46 % Hazelburn is the brand name for the unpeated single malt produced at Springbank Distillery in Campbeltown. The Hazelburn brand has been used by Springbank since 1997. The Hazelburn 10 YO is a limited release of 9000 bottles. It was bottled in 2014, after a full maturation in bourbon barrels. Hazelburn […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/hazelburn-10-yo/

The youngest member of the Early Flying series from The Whisky Agency is this Bunnahabhain 1990 .

Bunnahabhain 24 yo 1990
(48,3%, The Whisky Agency ‘Early flying’ 2014, refill hogshead, 190 btl.)

Nose: pine needles and mint, as well as some flinty notes and wet sand. Apple peelings. Sunflower oil and waxy notes. Hints of cigar boxes as well. Less honeyed than we would expect. majbe a few dried mushrooms in the background. Mouth: plenty of apple peelings again, hints of cider apples too. A slightly earthy profile, very natural with less fruity or rounded notes, just a...

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Läs mer http://www.edinburghwhiskyblog.com/2015/01/08/black-bottle-out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new/

Jim Beam Rye, 4 YO, 40 % Jim Beam Rye is a Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey. Made with a mashbill (recipe) which has the minimum requirement of 51 % rye, any less and it could not legally be called a rye whiskey. It was then matured for four years. The nick name for this whiskey […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/jim-beam-rye/

Jim Beam Rye, 4 YO, 40 % Jim Beam Rye is a Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey. Made with a mashbill (recipe) which has the minimum requirement of 51 % rye, any less and it could not legally be called a rye whiskey. It was then matured for four years. The nick name for this whiskey […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/jim-beam-rye/

This Springbank 12 Years Old is nicknamed Green . It is made from naturally farmed barley, but as the distillery itself doesn’t have the right certificates, the resulting whisky can’t officially be called organic . Hence green.

It’s matured entirely in bourbon casks.

Springbank 12 yo ‘Green’ (46%, OB 2014, batch 14/488, 9000 btl.)

Nose: a true Springer, fresh, aromatic, with coastal and earthy undertones. majbe a little more peat than usual. Also white peaches, citrus and freshly cut green apple. Sweet vanilla cake. Soft pepper. Hints of wet stones. Far from austere though, it’s rather creamy and...

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Caol Ila 1983 30 YO Special Release, 55,1 % Last Saturday I gave you my opinion on the Caol Ila Young & Feisty from Douglas Laing, which is an affordable whisky. Well, today the time has come to a much less affordable Caol Ila, unfortunately. I am talking about the 30 YO Special Release from […]...

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Starting traditions is easy. Firstly, you declare that something is a tradition, and then you do it more than once. Bingo: tradition. On that note, here’s the (now) traditional TWE Blog Review of the Year!

Tastings at TWE Vinopolis

It is traditional to feature a picture of Colin Dunn in our yearly round-up

While we at TWE HQ hide away in west London, occasionally glancing out of the window at Wembley Stadium, it seems that the folks in our London Bridge shop do real work. Throughout 2014, they hosted the usual cracking range of tastings, covering the whole world of spirits....

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The ever expanding list of Elements of Islay bottlings includes seven Caol Ila expression already. This is Cl7 , the latest release.

Originally sold by The Whisky Exchange , it’s found in plenty of whisky shops around Europe.

Caol Ila Cl7 (58,5%, Elements of Islay 2014, 50 cl)

Nose: a fairly expressive but also balanced nose. Medicinal notes, lots of coastal things (beaches, shells, hints of wet rope). On the other hand also soft hints of almond oil, sweetened lemon juice, even traces of butter biscuits and barley sugars. I tend to like ‘em like this. Mouth: certainly sharper...

Läs mer http://www.whiskynotes.be/2015/caol-ila/caol-ila-cl7-elements-of-islay/

Single malt producers do it routinely and so do America’s bourbon makers. Until now, however, no major Canadian whisky distillery has ever released a single barrel whisky. Finally, as 2014 drew to a close, Crown Royal became Canada’s first major brand to do so. To top that, each hand-selected barrel is bottled at a healthy 51.5% ABV. A whisky year already brimming with encouraging developments in the Great White North concludes with the Canadian whisky story of the year.

Crown Royal Single Barrel Whisky is more than simply a high-strength rendition of the standard bottling we are all familiar with....

Läs mer http://whiskyadvocate.com/whisky/2015/01/06/canada-joins-the-show-single-barrel-crown-royal-at-51-5/