Remember the rather wonderful Irish single malt 1991 – The Nectar of the Daily Drams ? Belgo-Malaysian bottler Eiling Lim selected a similar cask.

It’s produced at the same distillery, from the same 1991 batch of casks. We’ve heard it was also double distilled (!) as well as being peated spirit. Peated Bushmills, almost.

I happen to have bottles of both, so I can compare them directly.

Irish single malt 22 yo 1991 (48,6%, Eiling Lim 2014, 116 btl.)

Nose: my first impression was a slightly bigger peatiness, but this levels out over time. This one is majbe slightly...

Läs mer http://www.whiskynotes.be/2014/irish-whiskey/irish-single-malt-1991-peated-eiling-lim/

We’re now 22 days into december, and with Christmas Day only three days away, there is one thing on our minds: there are only three more TWE Advent Calendar prize draws to go. We’ve given away 21 prizes already and are now on to the home stretch. Now that everyone’s starting to hide away ready for 25 december, we thought we’d try to tempt you back to your computer keyboards with a sneak preview of the last three days of prizes.

Firstly, today’s prize – the latest addition to the Bunnahabhain range : Ceobanach. According to the bottle it’s pronounced ‘kyaw-bin-och’,...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/12/twe-advent-calendar-the-last-few-days/

Peat Reek Blackadder Raw Cask, NAS, 60 % An exciting and mysterious whisky on the test bench today. Peat Reek is an ongoing series from the independent bottler Blackadder. Every year sees new releases of single cask bottlings of Peat Reek. Sometimes they carry an age statement, sometimes not. Blackadder does not reveal the distillery […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/peat-reek-blackadder-raw-cask/

If you know A. Smith Bowman, you know about Mary. Mary is the pot still with the big reflux ball and tiara of pipes that the distillery has used for secondary distillation of column-stilled spirit for years. Bowman is a rare—if not unique—character in small distilleries in that they do no mashing; they take distilled spirit, made elsewhere, then run it through Mary and age it on their premises. When the late Truman Cox took over as master distiller, he told me with no little excitement that there were plans in the works for changing that; there was going to...

Läs mer http://whiskyadvocate.com/whisky/2014/12/22/big-little-changes-at-bowman/

Läs mer http://www.whiskyfun.com/2014/Four-Glendronach-one-old-glory.html

This Inchgower 1975 was bottled in 2013 but it hasn’t been released by Maltbarn until just now. It’s a strategy we saw before from this bottler, avoiding the moment when everyone seems to launch them and selling it when it’s not available any more.

Inchgower 38 yo 1975 (47,3%, Maltbarn 2013, bourbon cask, 54 btl.)

Nose: starts waxy, with paraffin, linseed oil and polished oak, as well as some mint. Green apples, later also warmer fruits like melon, pear and pineapple. Soft passion fruits too. Hay. Subtle flowery notes. I love this kind of profile. Mouth: rather mellow and...

Läs mer http://www.whiskynotes.be/2014/inchgower/inchgower-1975-maltbarn/

Glen Ord 1996 15 YO Clydesdale, 57,2 % Today we have a premiere, well for us at least. This is our first whisky from Swedish independent bottler Clydesdale. Distilled 1996-03-07, and bottled in november 2012. It was matured in cask CO389, and the total outturn was 275 bottles. This whisky will be made available in […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/glen-ord-1996-15-yo-clydesdale/

Läs mer http://www.whiskyfun.com/2014/Great-cognac-for-Christmas-time.html

The other day I was given I was given a nice early Christmas gift: a box of chocolates by the famous Belgian chocolatier Pierre Marcolini. The selection is called Rare Whiskies and Rums – it includes six different chocolates with a filling based on whisky and rum.

The starting idea is that liqueur-filled chocolates are always based on a nameless spirit, probably not the best one around, which is a shame when you’re working with top quality chocolate like Marcolini. This time, a lot of effort was put into matching a specific whisky / rum to a specific type of...

Läs mer http://www.whiskynotes.be/2014/whisky-news/rare-whiskies-and-rums-pierre-marcolini/

The King of Scots, NAS, 40 % The King of Scots is a blend from the independent bottler Douglas Laing. I have tasted both the no age statement (NAS) release and the 25 YO. Today I will share my tasting notes of the NAS. This is what Douglas Laing say about the whisky: Douglas Laing’s King […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/king-scots/

Box Whisky The Challenger, 3 YO, 48,2 % Here it is, the second release in The Early Days Collection, and the third official bottling from Box Whisky. I present to you – Box Whisky The Challenger. This is the follow up to The Pioneer, which was the first release in The Early Days Collection. The series […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/nordic-whisky-21-box-whisky-challenger/

It’s scary how many product launches happen around the festive season. Even though we expect to see lots of new bottlings appearing ready for the Christmas rush, this year has seen a surprisingly large number. However, nestled among the various launch parties last month was one event that was a little different – an evening with The Balvenie that was all about the whiskies they already have out. No new releases, no bells and whistles, just a table covered with some of the whiskies they’ve released over the past few years, almost as a quiet boast.

Quite a line-up…

Over the...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/12/balvenie-24x24/

Läs mer http://www.whiskyfun.com/2014/The-Laphroaig-Sessions-Part-Four-and-last.html

Balblair 1983 replaced the popular 1975 vintage at the end of 2013. It was matured in ex-bourbon barrels.

Balblair 1983
(46%, OB 2013, 1st release)

Nose: a nicely fruity, almost tropical nose. Fresh banana, sweet quinces and apricots, as well as a sourish hint of pineapple and passion fruit. Bright floral notes. Albariño comes to mind. Vanilla ice cream. Very subtle hints of old oak and almonds. Excellent. Mouth: quite lovely again. There are warm fruity notes (pears, plums) balanced by the same juicy acidity (kiwi) and soft, elegant spices (ginger, clove). Liquorice and cinnamon. Some freshly sawn, bourbonny...

Läs mer http://www.whiskynotes.be/2014/balblair/balblair-1983/

OK, I admit it. I am a fan of Nordic whisky! Swedish whisky! Box Whisky! I therefore have to share what news we have managed to collect so far on the upcoming exclusive release of Box Whisky The Archipelago. It will be released on januari 15, and will be sold on the Viking Line exclusively. […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/box-whisky-archipelago-know-far/

Mortlach 1987 26 YO Cask #3103 Adelphi Selection, 56,8 % The Holiday Season is coming up, and I find that my taste in whisky is changing slightly. This time of the year I gravitate towards more peaty and sweet whiskies, or heavy and dessert like sherry matured whiskies. In other words, the time is right […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/mortlach-1987-26-yo-cask-3103-adelphi-selection/

This Caol Ila 1983 is the first official 30 Year Old (as far as I know), bottled as part of the Special Releases 2014 . We’ve had a whole list of early 1980’s releases from independent bottlers, so we’re curious to see how the official release compares.

It is a mix of refill American and European oak.

Caol Ila 30 yo 1983 (55,1%, OB 2014, Special Release, 7638 btl.)

Nose: a maritime / medicinal version at first sight. Iodine impregnated gauze, seaweed, with some leather and soot. On a second level, there are rounder, fruitier notes: sweet lemon,...

Läs mer http://www.whiskynotes.be/2014/caol-ila/caol-ila-30-years-1983/

Läs mer http://www.whiskyfun.com/2014/The-Laphroaig-Sessions-Part-Three.html

Longrow CV, NAS, 46 % Longrow CV is a special bottling from the Springbank Distillery. This Longrow is a little like a CV for the brand, containing a range of differently aged whiskies. This is a No Age Statement whisky, composed of whiskies aged between 6 and 14 years. It has been matured in sherry, port, bourbon and rum […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/longrow-cv/

Beam Suntory

Who knows whether Shinjiro Torii, when he opened his Torii Shoten store in 1899 in Osaka, envisaged his family firm becoming the world’s third-largest drinks group? Or that, in pioneering whisky distilling in Japan and creating a style that was recognizably Japanese and not a scotch copy, he would excite the world’s palates; that the values he laid out would have lasted for over a century.

A few years ago I met with his grandson, Shingo Torii, Suntory’s vice-president and master blender. Then, among other things, we discussed the philosophy which, he felt, helped define Suntory. “It has...

Läs mer http://whiskyadvocate.com/whisky/2014/12/17/21st-annual-whisky-advocate-award-distiller-of-the-year/