There are now over 50.000 bottles of whisky in the Whiskybase database. They’ve celebrated this event by bottling a Burnside 1989 . Burnside, you ask? They are quite open about it, this 24 year-old whisky is actually Balvenie with a teaspoon of Glenfiddich added to it.

Burnside 24 yo 1989 (51,7%, Whiskybase 2014, barrel #12452, 207 btl.)

Nose: fruity with lots of beehive notes. Apples, kiwi juice, mirabelles. Floral honey and beeswax. Hints of marshmallows. A hint of fresh, minty oak as well. Fairly simple but I love this beehive profile. Mouth: again fruity and sweet. Pears on...

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Braunstein 13:2, 8 YO, 46 % Another Nordic whisky on the block today, a Danish whisky this time. This is Braunstein 13:2, an 8 year old whisky released in the Autumn of 2013 (2013-09-19). I have previously reviewed another whisky from Braunstein in the Nordic Whisky review series. Braunstein 13:2 is a peated whisky. It was […]...

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Cadeanhead’s Small Batch series seems to be a hit. They keep a nice balance of younger and older whiskies from a wide array of ditilleries. Some releases rapidly made a name for themselves.

Here’s a new Tomatin 1978 bottled for their Belgian importer The Nectar. We already saw a similar (general) release last year.

Tomatin 35 yo 1978 (46,5%, Cadenhead Small Batch for The Nectar 2014, hogshead, 216 btl.)

Nose: fruity. Hey, what did you expect? A slightly ‘greener’ fruitiness than most 1976’s though. A little more bubblegummy too, but really nice nonetheless. Oranges, stewed rhubarb and banana....

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Svenska Eldvatten Vintage 1994 Sherry Matured, 19 YO, 54,5 % Here is a follow-up to my review of the Vintage 1979 from Svenska Eldvatten. This time I am testing their Svenska Eldvatten Vintage 1994 Sherry Matured. Again we are talking about a blended whisky that was “vatted at birth”, back in augusti 1994. Then this blend […]...

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St. Magdalene 1982 25 YO Blackadder, 61,8 % I have not been interested in whisky for a very long time (only three years), but I have noticed that St. Magdalene is popular amongst the whisky loving people. Well, so far I have tasted three St. Magdalene, all of them from Independent Bottlers. I have already […]...

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What if… you took some quality gin, produced in Belgium, and finished it in a whisky cask? This is the concept behind the NOG! Gin which is set to be launched next week. The label calls it ‘whisky infused gin’.

NOG! stands for No Ordinary Gin , but nog also means more! in Dutch. After his whisky and rum releases, this is another brainchild of Bert ‘ Asta Morris ’ Bruyneel.

The first edition was finished in the cask that previously contained his Dalmore NAS whisky . We can already give away that there will be a second edition soon,...

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Aberlour-Glenlivet 1989 23 YO Cadenhead Small Batch, 54,9 % Today I present my review of a new small batch release from Cadenhead. It is the Aberlour-Glenlivet 1989 23 YO. This is another of Mark Watt’s new expressions. He has had a very good hand with the new releases from Cadenhead over the past couple of […]...

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Regular readers of the blog will know one thing that we’re always keen to learn more about is all things olfaction-related (see Tim’s post last augusti ). So when I was offered to chance to try the new Le Nez du Whisky aroma kit, how could I say no?

Le Nez du Whisky in all its glory

French wine expert Jean Lenoir first released Le Nez du Vin, a set of the most common aromas found in wine, in 1981. The success of the original, now translated into more than 10 languages, including Russian and Chinese, led to further forays...

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Another in our occasional series of Tweet-style interviews. As always, it’s 140 characters or less (we don’t count the spaces) in the answers from the director of distilling, whisky creation, and whisky stocks at the Glenmorangie Co., Bill Lumsden. He’s understandably quite busy, but took time out to answer some nosy questions.

What’s the view from your office/lab window?

I am lucky to have a splendid view of the Balmoral Hotel and in the background…Edinburgh Castle! Oh and the lovely St. James Centre! [The Centre is a 1970s concrete monstrosity shopping mall.]

Sublime to ridiculous! What was your route into...

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Bowmore Small Batch was launched in maj 2012 as Small Batch Reserve , but last year it was renamed Small Batch. Originally a UK exclusive, it has recently started to pop up in other European countries as well.

It is entirely matured in first- and second-fill bourbon casks and supposedly the lightest, most delicate expression of Bowmore so far. It is vatted in limited quantities, although there doesn’t seem to be a mention of the batch number or the amount of bottles on the label.

Bowmore Small Batch is also one of two expressions that have now been reinvented into...

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Spirit of Hven Seven Stars No. 1 Dubhe, NAS, 45 % On the small island Hven, in the middle of Øresund, between Sweden and Denmark, there is a distillery called Backafallsbyn AB. They make whisky under the brand Spirit of Hven. This is the second release from them (see also my review of the first […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/nordic-whisky-8-spirit-hven-seven-stars-1-dubhe/

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SMWS 48.38 Sparkling summer effervescence, 9 år, 58,2 % Julen 2013 ble tilbragt i London. Da var det en selvfølge at det ble mange timer med god whisky hos Scotch Maltwhisky Society (SMWS). Ah! Et fantastisk utvalg gode whiskyer å velge mellom. Det er alltid moro å benytte anledningen til å smake fra destillerier som vi […]...

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