This is one of the festival bottlings of the The Whisky Fair 2014  held in Limburg, Germany last weekend. It is a peated Isle of Jura 1989 bottled by Signatory Vintage . It comes in two strengths.

Isle of Jura 1989 (58,8%, Signatory Vintage for Whisky Fair 2014)

Nose: the peat isn’t too heavy, which also means complexity is high. Sooty notes, wet newspaper, also quite a lot of coastal notes. Olive juice, kelp, a little iodine… Soft earthy notes and grass. Ginger. After a while, some creamier notes emerge, really nice ones like ripe gooseberries and strawberries. Toffee...

Läs mer http://www.whiskynotes.be/2014/jura/jura-1989-signatory-limburg/

Longmorn-Glenlivet 1987 26 YO Cadenhead Small Batch, 49,5 % In my glass this time is the product of two great institutions of scotch whisky. The whisky is distilled at Longmorn distillery, and the product is sold by Independent Bottler Cadenhead. The Longmorn-Glenlivet 1987 26 YO is a recent addition to their small batch series. The total […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/longmorn-glenlivet-1987-26-yo-cadenhead-small-batch/

Suntory Royal 86 Proof, NAS, 43 % What is a perfect Ladies night? You don’t know yet? The answer is Wolford (clothing) and whisky! A couple of weeks ago there was a preview in Oslo of the autumn/winter collection from Wolford. A girlfriend offered a ride from Sandefjord to Oslo so I got the chance […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/suntory-royal-an-old-one/

Springbank 21 Year Old is a classic, and we were quite fond of the bling-bling re-release introduced in 2011. It has been a yearly bottling since then and we’re now trying the latest 2013 edition .

Springbank’s warehouses only contain a few casks of 20 years or older. No matter what cask in was in before, all of these 20+ casks are reracked into sherry casks, in order to have the required profile of the 21 Year Old.

Springbank 21 yo (46%, OB 2013, 1680 btl.)

Nose: quite subtle, with more fruity notes than obvious sherry. Pears and...

Läs mer http://www.whiskynotes.be/2014/springbank/springbank-21-years-2013/

Dufftown 1997 The Managers’ Choice, 12 YO, 59,5 % Dufftown Distillery is located in the Speyside region. The distillery has was initially known as the Dufftown-Glenlivet Distillery. Today they sell their single malt under the brand The Singleton of Dufftown. Dufftown is owned by Diageo. I have tested the Dufftown 1997 The Manager’s Choice. This expression […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/dufftown-1997-managers-choice/

Davin de Kergommeaux is a tireless chronicler of Canadian whisky, and one of his best attributes is that he very much wants to share the good news. Here he takes Whisky Advocate writers Dave Broom and David Wondrich along on a tour of some big Canadian distilleries: Crown Royal (Gimli and Valleyfield) and Canadian Mist.

I meet Dave Broom at the baggage carousel at Winnipeg airport. Dave’s flown in from England for a first-hand look at Canadian whisky, beginning at Crown Royal’s distillery in Gimli, Manitoba, 55 miles north of here on the shores of Lake Winnipeg.

It maj well...

Läs mer http://whiskyadvocate.com/whisky/2014/05/16/a-whirlwind-canadian-whisky-tour/

Läs mer http://www.whiskyfun.com/2014/Three-very-funny-Glen-Moray.html

With an average score of just 45 points, this Edradour 1968 bottled by Signatory Vintage in 1990 is among the lowest rated whiskies on the Malt Maniacs Monitor.

In any case, it is one of the only 1960’s single malt expressions from this distillery.

Edradour 21 yo 1968 (46%, Signatory Vintage 1990, cask #1990-1994, 1300 btl.)

Nose: well yes, a bit weird, but not foul or anything. Malty notes and something metallic. Vegetal oils. Hay and dried flowers. majbe a little plastic. Mouth: totally wrecked now. Holds the middle between a jawbreaker candy aroma, parma violets, lavender soap, cologne...

Läs mer http://www.whiskynotes.be/2014/edradour/edradour-1968-sv-cask-1990-1994/

Bladnoch 1990 21 YO The First Editions, 58,3 % Today I am tasting the Bladnoch 1990 21 YO The First Editions, from Edition Spirits, now a part of Independent Bottler Hunter Laing. This whisky was matured in cask #ES005/01, distilled in 1990 and bottled in 2011. Bladnoch is a small Lowland distillery, one of very few operational […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/bladnoch-1990-21-yo-first-editions/

Läs mer http://www.whiskyfun.com/2014/Glen-Grant-completely-at-random.html

Läs mer http://www.edinburghwhiskyblog.com/2014/05/15/the-glenlivet-nadurra-oloroso/

Svenska Eldvatten is an independent bottler in Sweden, run by Tommy Andersen and Peter Sjögren. Their bottlings (whisky and rum), with nice minimalist labels, have a decent reputation in Sweden and start getting noticed abroad.

Today we’re trying a 1979 single cask blend . That means the malt and grain components were blended at birth in november 1979, and matured together in a sherry butt for over 33 years.

Vintage 1979 – 33 yo blend (52,2%, Svenska Eldvatten 2013, 197 btl.)

Nose: very nuanced. Subtle plums and raisins, as well as some redcurrants / blueberries. Some nutty notes and...

Läs mer http://www.whiskynotes.be/2014/blends/svenska-eldvatten-1979/

Writers Tears Pot Still Irish Whiskey, NAS, 40 % I have already written about the two other Irish whiskeys I tasted at the Cinderella Whisky Fair 2014; The Irishman Cask Strength and The Irishman Founder’s Reserve. Today it is time for Writers Tears Pot Still Irish Whiskey. Writers Tears is a vatting of Single Malt […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/writers-tears-pot-still-irish-whiskey/

Läs mer http://www.whiskyfun.com/2014/Longmorn-in-their-twenties.html

Whisky-Doris is 11 years old – an event the shop is celebrating with this Anniversary Malt bottling. It’s a blended Maltwhisky, made up of one 2001 cask and some others that were significantly older. They were blended and then married for a couple of years in a refill sherry butt.

For what it’s worth, there have been similar bottlings (casks #113 and 114) that were said to contain Glenrothes, Tamdhu, Glengoyne and Glenfarclas.

11th Anniversary Malt
(45,1%, Whisky-Doris 2013, sherry butt #115, 595 btl.)

Nose: inviting scents. Lots of berries and stewed fruits. Yellow raisins and greengages. Tinned...

Läs mer http://www.whiskynotes.be/2014/blends/11th-anniversary-malt-whisky-doris/

Here’s a sneak preview of our Summer 2014 issue’s Buying Guide. A total of 117 whiskies were reviewed for this issue. We welcomed two new members to our review team: Jonny McCormick (blended scotch, blended malts, grain, Irish, and world whisky) and Geoffrey Kleinman (flavored whiskies and U.S.-exclusive imports).

#10 -  Crown Royal XO, 40%, $45

A rich luxurious whisky finished in cognac casks, as was the crisper, brighter Cask No. 16 that it replaces. This is the cedary, leathery, tobacco-ish sipping whisky of the private club. Simple toffee and the cherry essence of Beaujolais nouveau evolve into ripe red...

Läs mer http://whiskyadvocate.com/whisky/2014/05/13/top-10-whiskies-reviewed-in-the-summer-2014-issue-buying-guide/