Läs mer http://www.edinburghwhiskyblog.com/2014/04/01/a-relationship-with-peat/

Despite the specific nature of the word ‘Scotch’, the Scotch whisky industry is one with international tendrils. In order to be called Scotch whisky, the distilled spirit has to mature in oak casks for at least three years, with the vast majority of those casks sourced from the USA. Stateside regulations demand that whiskey be matured in a new cask, which leads to a large number of second-hand casks going spare, and the Scotch industry has based its strategy around this continuous supply.

This year, Diageo, the largest drinks company in the world, and Brown-Forman, owner of Jack Daniel’s, have...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/04/scotch-whisky-industry-crisis/

The festival Whisky in Leiden , organised by Whiskysite.nl, is coming up on april 12. This year’s festival bottling is a Kilchoman 2007, one of these Private Cask releases with a red label. It’s the first independent Kilchoman for Holland (after a series of bottlings for the importer).

Kilchoman 6 yo 2007
(60,4%, OB for Whisky in Leiden 2014, bourbon cask #142, 245 btl.)

Nose: nougat at first. Then smoked pineapple and litres of sweet pear juice. Kiwi. Some walnuts and waxy notes. Obviously peat as well, but not as loud as in other expressions. Very soft antiseptics as...

Läs mer http://www.whiskynotes.be/2014/kilchoman/kilchoman-2007-whisky-in-leiden/

Caol Ila 15 YO Flora & Fauna, 15 år, 43 % I går skrev min kjære mann om en veldig god Caol Ila, nemlig 17 YO fra Old Particular-serien til Douglas Laing. I dag tar jeg for meg Caol Ila 15 YO Flora & Fauna. Flora & Fauna er en serie fra United Destillers (nå […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/caol-ila-15-yo-flora-fauna/

Läs mer http://www.whiskyfun.com/2014/Tasting-Springbank-from-2004-to-1954.html

Läs mer http://www.edinburghwhiskyblog.com/2014/03/31/in-honour-of-peat/

Master of Malt must be the king of creative bottling. Leftovers, distillation experiments, rebottlings… they’ll pop a label on it and hit the market.

The Lost Distilleries Blend is a blendeded Maltwhisky exclusively made up of whiskies from distilleries that have sadly closed over the years. In this case Rosebank, Littlemill, Imperial, Mosstowie, Glen Keith and Port Ellen.

Batch 4 is the lightest in colour so far. It recently captured the ‘Best Blended Whisky’ award at the 2014 World Whiskies Awards – an award that is won by a Suntory Hibiki blend more often than not.

The Lost...

Läs mer http://www.whiskynotes.be/2014/blends/the-lost-distilleries-blend-4/

Caol Ila 1996 17 YO Old Particular, 48,4 % Old Particular is a relatively new series from Independent Bottler Douglas Laing. Whiskies younger than 18 years are bottled at 48,4 % in this series, and older whiskies are bottled at 51,5 %. A few older rarities will have natural cask strength. Caol Ila 1996 17 […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/caol-ila-1996-17-yo-old-particular/

Läs mer http://www.whiskyfun.com/2014/The-quest-for-malternatives-today-aged-grappa.html

Blackadder Peat Reek Raw Cask 2009, NAS, 60,6 % One of my other favourite whiskies (in addition to North Highland 1995 Svenska Eldvatten) at Cinderella Whisky Fair was Blackadder Peat Reek Raw Cask. We attended a masterclass with Robin Tucek, Blackadder himself, and he had brought along some very nice whiskies. My husband will share a […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/blackadder-peat-reek-raw-cask-2009/

I’ve been a fan of New York’s Finger Lakes region for years. The unique views afforded by these long lakes and the bluffs above their shores, the startling white deer in the woods of the Seneca Army Depot, the wineries that cling to the frost-free microclimate of the lakeside hills…it’s a great place to spend an afternoon, a weekend, a whole vacation.

Recently it’s become an area for whiskey distilling as well. As New York loosened regulations on distilling, including the creation of a “farm distillery” license, the agricultural bounty of the area and the hordes of tourists that travel...

Läs mer http://whiskyadvocate.com/whisky/2014/03/28/finger-lakes-whiskey-ramble/

There’s a lot of talk in the whisky world at the moment about Mortlach . They’re not the most mainstream of distilleries, but they are much loved by whisky connoisseurs (or geeks, as I like to call us). However, Diageo have recently discontinued their one regular ongoing bottling, the 16 year old Flora & Fauna release, and have announced a new, premium range that will be arriving in juni:

New. Shiny. Hopefully tasty.

We’re not going to talk about the new range yet, other than to show the rather blingy bottles in the piccy above, as we’ve not tasted it...

Läs mer http://blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2014/03/gordon-macphail-mortlach/

Stratheden – The Lost Distillery Quite recently a new whisky company appeared on my radar; The Lost Distillery Company. Their business concept is to bring life to long lost distilleries. They have obtained the rights to twenty odd distilleries, and have started the meticulous work of researching what kind of whisky they once produced. They […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/stratheden-lost-distillery-deluxe-vs-vintage/

Läs mer http://www.edinburghwhiskyblog.com/2014/03/28/a-lovely-little-littlemill/

Läs mer http://www.whiskyfun.com/2014/Another-little-bag-of-honest-Speysiders.html

Maltbarn has released four new expressions: Ledaig 2005, Longmorn 1992 (what a surprise), Ben Nevis 1997 and this Bunnahabhain 1987 matured in a sherry butt.

Bunnahabhain 26 yo 1987 (49,9%, Maltbarn 2014, sherry butt, 121 btl.)

Nose: very coastal but quite fruity at the same time. Sweet grapefruit, apple peel, hints of peaches. The some walnuts and lemon, as well as faint verbena and linseed oil. majbe a Fino butt. Some leafy notes. Gets fruitier (slightly tropical) with water. Mouth: relatively fruity again, gooseberries, apples and lemon sweets. Mid-palate there is a big boost of brine and mineral notes,...

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

Spirit of Hven Urania – First Release, NAS, 45 % Time now for the second Swedish whisky in my Nordic Whisky review series. This time I am looking at Spirit of Hven Urania – First release. This is the first single malt from the distillery Spirit of Hven. It was released in Sweden in mars […]...

Läs mer http://www.whiskysaga.com/nordic-whisky-5-spirit-hven-urania/