I believe this was the first release from Tomatin in the heart-shaped bottles (check the more recent Tomatin 36yo 1977 ) in juli 2014. It was after the review of the 1977 that I got a message that suggested me to try this Tomatin 32 Year Old 1981 as well. Thanks, Dirk.

Tomatin 32 yo 1981 (42,3%, OB 2014, Oloroso sherry butt #001, 405 btl.)

Nose: quite spectacular. Raisins, almond biscuits, red berries. Loads of old leather chairs and polished exotic woods. Soft hints of liquorice roots. Whiffs of very old Oloroso, including the combination of figs and citrus that...

Whisky can be matured in Spanish sherry casks but you’d have to bring the casks over to Scotland to name the result ‘Scotch whisky’. For Nomad , they shipped the whisky to the cellars of the famous bodega Gonzalez Byass and finished it in the Andalusian climate. Hence the name outland whisky .

At its base is a blended whisky composed from 26 malts and 6 grain distilleries  (5 to 8 years old) by Whyte & Mackay master blender Richard Paterson . The blend is then finished for about one year in old Pedro Ximénez casks.

Although they say this...

This is the re-launched BenRiach 10 Years , presented in april 2015 and recognizable by its grey packaging and copper foil letters.

The current owners took over the distillery in april 2004, which means this could have been a true milestone: the first expression made entirely with Billy Walker’s spirit. However press releases say it’s mainly made with the new spirit, suggesting it still contains some old production as well.

BenRiach 10 is composed from ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks.

BenRiach 10 yo (43%, OB +/- 2016)

Nose: a pleasant character, with green apple, banana and some kiwi. Hints...

The Golden Age Blend refers to the ‘Golden Age’ of distilling from the early 1960s to the mid 1970s, being made exclusively with whiskies that are at least 40 years old. Malts from Macallan , Glenrothes and Tamdhu are used, along with a little peated Bunnahabhain to add the ‘seasoning’.

I believe Bunnahabhain ceased its maltings in 1963 and started ordering unpeated malt since then, but the people from Master of Malt confirmed this was probably some leftover smokiness from a refill cask.

An extremely old grain from North British was selected to complete the blend and bring the different...

One of the most highly anticipated releases of this year already: Springbank 16 Years Local Barley. It’s easy to see why: Local Barley was an iconic range of 1965 / 1966 expressions released in the 1990s.

Made with prisma barley (a spring barley) grown at Low Machrimore Farm in the south of the Kintyre peninsula, this was distilled in september 1999 and aged for 16 years . There were 80% bourbon casks and 20% European oak sherry casks in the mix.

This is the first of five annual releases (not sure this would mean the last will be a 21...

These are the first three Springbank releases in the Archives series.

What a great idea to release three sister casks at the same time: two refill bourbon hogsheads (distilled in oktober 1996 ) and one first-fill sherry hoggie (distilled maj 1996 ).

Springbank 19 yo 1996 (56,4%, Archives ‘Shells from the Bay of Caracas’ 2016, refill bourbon hogshead #550, 284 btl.)

Nose: a nice mineral / fruity combo. Lots of ferns, a little linseed oil, hay and wet limestone, mixed with juicy grapefruits and lemon drops. Subtle vanilla and nougat. A light grassy yeastiness as well, which works well....

Some time ago, a good friend brought this Glendrostan 5 Year Old to the table in a tasting at my place.

None of us knew the brand and nowhere could we find tasting notes or helpful references, but given the age of the bottle it certainly looked interesting. On the label they claim Glendrostan has been on the market since 1820 and is blended by following a recipe dating back to 1780.

The brand seems to have shifted around. The 1960s bottle reviewed today – the ultra-rare pear-shape bottle with tin cap – refers to Judge, Craig & Pirrie of...

In case you eagerly started looking for forgotten bottles of...

To know more about Exile Casks and their first release The Trojan , read my post from last saturday . It’s an undisclosed 25 year-old Speyside single malt bottled from a refill hogshead .

More releases are on their way and I can advise you to keep an eye on this bottler.

‘The Trojan’ 25 yo 1990 (57,1%, Exile Casks 2016, refill hogshead, 50 cl, 306 btl.)

Nose: very nice and aromatic. Juicy yellow plums, baked red apples and stewed mixed fruits. Sweet rhubarb and honey. Nice hints of polished wood, hay and dusty libraries too. Subtle wax and...

In the latest releases from Maltbarn (which are still on their way to stores, if I’m not mistaken), we found this Irish single malt 2001 . I’ve yet to find a bad whisky among these independent Irish malts.

Irish single malt 14 yo 2001 (48,3%, Maltbarn 2016, bourbon cask, 167 btl.)

Nose: a green fruitiness, lots of green lemon, grapefruit, green banana. Unripe pineapple. majbe Honeydew melon. Then some caraway and light mineral touches. A light grassy side as well. Mouth: sweet and even more fruity now. White gummi bears, lemon candy, freshly cut Granny Smith, and light...

Garrison Brothers is the first legal whiskey distillery in Texas, founded in 2005. Their Texas Straight Boubon is highly rated by Jim Murray in his Whisky Bible, this Lone Star state whisky is produced in Hye.

It’s a bourbon of little over 3 years old , with a mashbill of about 75% Texas corn , with malted two-row barley from the Pacific Northwest and Canada and winter wheat grown in their own estate. It’s supposed to age fast in the warm Texas climate. They’ve had some problems with bursting barrels in the first few runs, which made them experiment with...

A 2015 addition to the Deanston range, this expression has been matured for 18 years in ex-bourbon casks , including a finishing period in first fill Kentucky bourbon casks.

Deanston – one of the strangest looking distilleries I know (a former cotton mill) – was purchased by current owners Burn Stewart Distillers in 1990, after it had ceased production in 1982 for over eight years. This is production of the early years.

Deanston 18 Year Old (46,3%, OB +/- 2016, first-fill bourbon cask finish)

Nose: starts a bit musty, ponderous and even slightly sulphury. Then sunflower oil, sweet...

In a couple of days, Joel Harrison and Neil Ridley (of Caskstrength.net fame) will be presenting their latest project: Exile Casks . They’re in the role of ‘cask detectives’, hunting down forgotten casks, destined for blends that no longer exist, set aside for customers that went out of business, or simply fallen off stock records.

They are now “liberating” them as single cask releases at cask strength , in 50 cl bottles. Coupled to direct distribution (bottles are only sold online), smaller bottles allow them to keep the prices low.

The first release is named The Trojan ,...

Highland Park Ice Edition is a brand-new limited edition of Orkney’s distillery. It is aged for 17 years , mostly in rebuilt first-fill bourbon casks that had been fitted with virgin American oak cask ends.

This release follows on from the Valhalla collection and honours another Norse myth: the Ice Realm of Niflheim. A Highland Park Fire edition is coming up in 2017 and I don’t think the Norse theme is about to end soon.

Although some will say it’s overpackaged, I have to say the bottle looks quite spectacular. It comes in a wooden cradle which resembles a...

Glenmorangie 25 Year Old ‘Quarter Century’ was launched in 2010. It is the oldest member of the core range and was composed of American oak barrels, Oloroso sherry casks and French burgundy casks.

Glenmorangie 25 yo ‘Quarter Century’ (43%, OB +/- 2014)

Nose: a tad ‘darker’ than I expected. Lots of apricots, honeydew melon, mirabelles, majbe strawberries, vanilla and beeswax. Ripe yellow plums. Also pollen, some almonds and biscuity notes. Honey. Some floral notes too. Great profile. Mouth: again very fruity, with a creamy texture. Almonds, praline, with some Caperdonich-like jammy fruits in the background. Apricots. Bramble....

It should be obvious that Blairfindy is synonymous for Glenfarclas . This 1968 cask was bottled by Blackadder in 2004 in the Raw Cask series.

Glenfarclas ‘Blairfindy’ 35 yo 1968 (53,7%, Blackadder 2004, cask #4161, ref #BA 2004/203, 406 btl.)

Nose: nice old-style sherry, quite dry. Lots of chocolate notes but also smoke, bread crust and praline. Some raisins but without the sweetness, if that makes sense. Roasted almonds. Herbal notes, giving way to musty cellars and old books. Mouth: more sweetness and more fruity notes, some jammy hints and fruit eau-de-vie. Again some chocolate and rum &...

As ever, Batch 54 of Aberlour a’bunadh has been drawn from Oloroso sherry butts. Around 60-80 casks are used for each batch, which are bottled with no chill filtering and no colour added.

Aberlour a’bunadh (60,7%, OB 2016, Oloroso sherry butts, batch n°54)

Nose: impressive. Lots of raisins, blackberries and rich cherry liqueur. Black Forest cake. Spicy figs and hints of tobacco leaves. Also bright oranges. Hints of brioche with a burnt edge. Whiffs of old cellars and oak dust as well. Very nice, on par with some of the best GlenDronach single casks that are much more...

A few weeks ago, Longmorn launched The Distiller’s Choice , a NAS expression which replaces the old Longmorn 16 Year Old. This new release is a triple cask matured single malt (hogsheads, Oloroso sherry casks and ex-bourbon barrels).

The 16yo had a lot of fans and they will probably not be happy with the drop in alcohol from 48% to 40%, the lack of an age statement (I assume this is now under 10 years old) and a price level that’s almost the same. Also the name is slightly paradoxical, suggesting some kind of special selection or something premium in...

A new TTB approval revealed the label of an upcoming Ardbeg 21 Year Old , matured in 200-liter ex-bourbon casks (typical bourbon barrels). It will be bottled at 46% alc./vol.

The back label says:

Ardbeg Twenty One. A rare glimpse into Ardbeg’s precarious past. A shining example of its unwavering quality. This momentous bottling contains whisky distilled during some of the most precarious days of Ardbeg’s past, when only a handful of casks were set aside. Sumptuous and soothing, melding pepper, rye and Ardbeg’s famous peaty smoke, this is a golden dram born from adversity, determination and dedication.

We...

This is from a rare heavily peated run at Jura distillery . It was distilled on 17 december 1989 and bottled on 10 april 2015 by Signatory Vintage .

Similar barrels in the #30700-30730 range have been bottled in the past few years.

Isle of Jura 25 yo 1989 (60,9%, Signatory Vintage 2015, bourbon barrel #30729, 194 btl.)

Nose: like it. A layered nose, with obvious peat, ink and soot. A few tarry notes and maritime elements. It combines nicely with a big vanilla sweetness (custard) and something of strawberry marshmallow. Also herbal / floral notes. Mouth: a...