We already tried this Linkwood 1984 at Spirits in the Sky in november, but it took us some time to get a second sample to confirm. It’s part of the latest Early flying series from The Whisky Agency .

Linkwood 30 yo 1984 (49,2%, The Whisky Agency ‘Early flying’ 2014, refill hogshead, 174 btl.)

Nose: smooth, fruity nose. Honeydew melon, apple and a bit of peach jam. Green banana. Whiffs of verbena. Buttercups. It’s quite complex but also quite compact. Old-style polished furniture. Hints of mint and leafy notes in the background. Mouth: smooth and fruity again, but...

Läs mer http://www.whiskynotes.be/2014/linkwood/linkwood-1984-whisky-agency/

Läs mer http://www.whiskyfun.com/2014/Strong-Benromach-and-stronger-Benromach.html

Spirit of Freedom 30 Year Old is a blend produced by J & A Mitchell (the owners of Springbank), to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.

It is composed of 75% Maltwhisky (from five distilleries) and 25% grain whisky – a mix of bourbon and sherry casks.

Spirit of Freedom 30 yo (46%, Springbank 2014, 2014 btl.)

Nose: herbal and floral at first. Heather honey. Becomes wider and sweeter, with nougat but also slightly exotic fruits (guava, banana). Nicely waxy, with some coconut oils. Mineral touches as well, it’s easy to detect...

Läs mer http://www.whiskynotes.be/2014/blends/spirit-of-freedom-30-years/

Tullamore Dew Phoenix, NAS, 55 % The whisky of the day is an Irish blend, the recently released Tullamore Dew Phoenix. This is a blend made up from grain whiskey, malt whiskey and pure pot still whiskey. The pure pot still whiskey content is fairly high at around 70 %. The whiskey has received a […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/tullamore-dew-phoenix/

Läs mer http://www.whiskyfun.com/2014/Three-Glen-Garioch-Almost-a-tradition..html

I try to get a wide variety of distilleries on this website, but Bunnahabhain is pretty much incontournable when talking about independent Islay releases. While most of the other Islay whiskies are hard to get for independent bottlers, Bunna is still readily available.

Asta Morris’ latest release is a Bunnahabhain 1987 .

Bunnahabhain 27 yo 1987
(50,8%, Asta Morris 2014, AM039, 124 btl.)

Nose: punchy and coastal, with some brine and various oily notes. Leathery notes. Grasses. There’s a vague aromatic sweetness in the background, but not enough to call it fruity. Well, grapefruit majbe. Soft mint and...

Läs mer http://www.whiskynotes.be/2014/bunnahabhain/bunnahabhain-1987-asta-morris/

Glenlivet 1994 19 YO Single Cask Edition, 56 % This is a single cask edition from The Glenlivet. They release these from time to time. The Glenlivet 1994 19 YO Single Cask Edition was made available in Sweden late Autumn 2014. The selling price was SEK 2499, which is quite steep for a 19 YO. […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/glenlivet-1994-19-yo-single-cask-edition/

Läs mer http://www.whiskyfun.com/2014/Sunday-Malternatives-quatro-mezcales.html

Bowmore 2001 13 YO Blackadder Raw Cask, 59,2 % Blackadder is an independent bottler to be found in Norway from januari 2015! We are so much looking forward to that. Almost every single one of the seventeen whiskies I have tasted from Blackadder have been very good. I think he has a good nose and palate […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/bowmore-2001-13-yo-blackadder-raw-cask/

Most of the Private Stock bottlings from The Whisky Agency go by pretty unnoticed, simply because they’re in high demand and yields are usually very low. This recent Glenrothes 1980 still seems to be available though.

Glenrothes 34 yo 1980
(48,5%, The Whisky Agency ‘Private Stock’ 2014, refill hogshead, 180 btl.)

Nose: a relatively light nose, starting on honey and almonds and slowly developing a nice fruit basket. Butter pear, nectarine, malon, freshly squeezed oranges, soft hints of guava. Subtle waxy notes too. Classic old Speyside. Mouth: rather sweet and fruity again, with apples, peaches, papaya and a little tangerine....

Läs mer http://www.whiskynotes.be/2014/glenrothes/glenrothes-1980-private-stock/

Smögen 2011 3 YO Single Cask, 60,9 % This is the first single cask release from Swedish distillery Smögen Whisky. It was distilled on 2011-06-10 and bottled on 2014-08-15. Matured in a single American white oak bourbon barrel (cask #20/2011). It was made with peated Optic barley, at 45 ppm phenols. The total outturn of […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/nordic-whisky-22-smogen-2011-3-yo-single-cask/

James Buntin is the new brand ambassador for Speyside single malt Balvenie

After 14 years in Australia, new Balvenie brand ambassador James Buntin is back in the UK, on a mission to spread the word about this highly regarded distillery and its whiskies. We met up with this impressively hirsute Scot to share a dram and a story or two – and he didn’t disappoint.

‘ I’m 46, and I’ve been drinking whisky for 46 years – my mum used to take a drop of whisky and rub it on my gums’

‘ There’s nothing better than a nip and...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/12/james-buntin-balvenie/

These are good times to be a fan of whisky. It seems the choice of product is increasing almost daily, and overall the quality is very good. You might have picked up on the fact that we are quite fond of so-called ‘world whisky’ (produced outside of Scotland) here at Whisky Saga HQ. This does […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/distillerie-warenghem-gets-norwegian-importer/

Merry Christmas everyone!

Having another Ardbeg 1974 single cask is always a treat, but with only 76 bottles this is also one of the rarest 1974’s around. Cask 3328 was released for the Italian market in september 2006.

Ardbeg 32 yo 1974
(53,5%, OB for Italy 2006, bourbon cask #3328, 76 btl.)

Nose: starts a bit heavy and heady, it’s definitely not a softie. Sharp lemon zest, walnut skins and plenty of medicinal notes. Brings along some sweeter notes like sugared almonds, herbal honey and wax candles. Great evolution and even better with a drop of water: it becomes...

Läs mer http://www.whiskynotes.be/2014/ardbeg/ardbeg-1974-3328-italy/

Auchentoshan Cooper’s Reserve 14 YO, 46 % I visited a friend last Friday and he offered a couple of whiskies I had not tried before. That is always exciting I think! One of them was Auchentoshan Cooper’s Reserve 14 YO. The other one you can read about on New Years Eve Well, Auchentoshan Cooper’s Reserve was matured […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/auchentoshan-coopers-reserve-14-yo/

The TWE blog team cannot WAIT for Christmas! Two of them, anyway… (from left: Billy, Rocky, Stuart)

After 12 months of sensible, serious whisky chat, we thought it was time for the TWE blog team to let our hair down – although, judging by the pic, we might struggle with that one. So, in the spirit of Christmas, we’ve each shared our favourite festive food, songs and films, as well as some delicious bottles we’ll be drinking over the Christmas period. Don’t forget to keep checking the blog in 2015, and a Merry Christmas to all of you.

STUART
‘Look, there’s only...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/12/merry-christmas/

Läs mer http://www.whiskyfun.com/2014/Highland-Park-from-1970-to-the-30s.html

Islay barley , from Bruichladdich’s own Lorgba field at the Octomore farm, was used to create this Octomore 06.3 . It was distilled in 2009 and bottled earlier this year.

A massive 258 ppm of phenols, that’s almost 100 ppm more than the fourth or fifth edition of this dram. The world’s most heavily peated whisky at the moment.

Octomore 06.3 ‘Islay Barley’ (64%, OB 2014, 258 ppm, 15.000 btl.)

Nose: surprisingly farmy, something that I didn’t get from previous releases. Wet animal fur, hay and wet leaves. I also get thyme and burnt heather. Hints of yeast....

Läs mer http://www.whiskynotes.be/2014/bruichladdich/octomore-06-3-islay-barley/

Loch Indaal Catch 1982 Bowmore, ~32 YO, 46 % Time to go fishing, on the pier at Bowmore. Throwing the line into the Loch Indaal, the sea inlet outside Bowmore, hoping to catch something interesting. And what do we find? Well, how about the Loch Indaal Catch 1982 Bowmore, from independent bottler Wemyss Malts, a […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/loch-indaal-catch-1982-bowmore-wemyss-malts/

Läs mer http://www.whiskyfun.com/2014/St-Magadalene-1982-by-Cadenhead.html