One of the single casks in Batch 12: BenRiach 1995 cask #74743 . It was bottled from a bourbon barrel .

BenRiach 20 yo 1995 (58,9%, OB 2015, bourbon barrel #74743, 186 btl.)

Nose: could be the profile of an aged grain whisky, or a virgin oak maturation. Think lots of vanilla, coconut cream and a tropical fruitiness (pineapple, melon). marshmallows. Hints of cinnamon rolls and fig jam. Mouth: punchy, very thick with a syrupy sweetness. Big vanilla, big coconut, some banana and maple syrup. Some citrus candy. Cinnamon rolls and marshmallows again. Hints of mint as well...

This is the second release in the Springbank Green series, denoting the barley used in the production was organic. It has been matured for 13 years in sherry casks , following on from last year’s 12 year old bourbon matured version .

Springbank 13 yo ‘Green’ (46%, OB 2015, sherry casks, 9000 btl.)

Nose: quite malty / porridgy at first (Frosties) just like the 12yo, but sweeter this time, with more baked apple and hints of raisins. Pear drops. Also coastal notes and leathery overtones. Very light hints of damp earth. Mouth: sweet, with lovely fruity notes to...

The highlight of the Fulldram tasting: a single cask Glengoyne 1972 from sherry oak. A winning recipe indeed.

It was distilled in september 1972 and bottled in oktober of 2003.

Glengoyne 31 yo 1972 (56%, OB 2003, sherry cask #2970, 510 btl.)

Nose: very aromatic, with the typical sherry bomb aromas (figs, dates, raisins) but also more juicy fruits. Cherries, blackberries and plenty of redcurrants. A huge amount of polished, exotic wood and dusty books too. Pepper and cardamom. Touches of balsamic and linseed oil. Aniseed. Mouth: big and intense. Huge sherry notes of course. Raisins and blackberries,...

The other day I attended a Fulldram club tasting. There had been a voting procedure to decide which bottles would be opened and I have to say the line-up worked out really well. The highlight was a Glengoyne that I will review tomorrow.

Lancer’s Flag is an old Glenfarclas 1966 bottled in the Daily Dram series late 2007. I believe this must be one of the very first Daily Dram releases with this mosaic label, together with The Drunken Angel, Hag Rap Oil and the other funny anagrams in this range.

A couple of months later they also bottled Feral...

Which new bottlings did we see the past few days?

BenRiach Cask Strength

There’s a BenRiach Cask Strength coming up, similar to the GlenDronach Cask Strength from its sister distillery I guess. Batch #1 will be bottled at 52.2%.

Balvenie Tun 1509 Batch 3

Then there’s The Balvenie Tun 1509 Batch #3 , bottled at 52.2%. Should be similar to earlier batches.

Glenmorangie Grand Vintage 1990

In the TTB database we found a Glenmorangie Grand Vintage 1990 at 43%. It’s apparently the start of a Bond House collection. Based on the paperwork it should come in...

Now that the Tomatin 30 Year Old is discontinued, it is replaced by some old limited edition like the Tomatin 32 Year Old 1981 (bottled in 2014), now followed by this Tomatin 36 Year Old .

It says ‘Batch 1’ so I guess it’s meant to be more than a one-off. This batch is composed of two casks: an Oloroso and a bourbon cask, both filled in 1977 . They come in a heart-shaped decanter and a big wooden case.

Tomatin 36 yo 1977 (46%, OB 2015, Batch 1, cask #48 + 30142, 800 btl.)

Nose: starts on...

Glenfarclas 10 Years used to be the youngest expression in the core range (if you look at the 105 as something different), but it is now undercut by an 8 Year Old (in some markets) and several NAS releases like Heritage and the Legend of Speyside series.

Glenfarclas 10 yo (40%, OB +/- 2015)

Nose: fairly light, with classic raisins, or rather fresh grapes in this case. Orange peel. Hints of toffee and plenty of malt. It also shows a slightly funny metallic / mineral note. Light cinnamon. Mouth: sweet, quite light again, pleasant enough but with limited...

Italian distillery PUNI recently launched two whiskies in the beautiful bottles: PUNI Nova , the ‘classic’ style, and this PUNI Alba . This whisky was first matured in Sicilian marsala wine casks and then transferred to second-fill bourbon barrels that previously contained peated whisky on Islay for 10 to 24 years.

PUNI Alba 3 yo (43%, OB 2015, Batch 02/2015)

Nose: sweet and sour onset, with plums, baked apple, the moving towards red grapes and lemon. Touches of agave. Peppery touches and a light smokiness – or rather more earthiness – in the background. Also clear malty notes...

Maltbarn released a couple of new bottlings: Irish single malt 2001, Glen Scotia 1992 and this Braeval 1994 . Two other releases will be launched at the upcoming Limburg Whisky Fair.

Braes of Glenlivet 22 yo 1994 (48,3%, Maltbarn 2016, bourbon cask, 197 btl.)

Nose: sweet and candied, with some hints of cotton candy and bubblegum in the background. Pears, a little brown sugar and vanilla syrup. Gummi bears. Honey and traces of minty oak. Mouth: sweet, malty and fruity, with peaches, banana and lime. Vanilla fudge, hints of fruit cake and marzipan. Cinnamon pastry. Light waxy notes....

Yula was the first of a three part trilogy of limited edition Island Malt Scotch Whisky released by Douglas Laing.

Yula is inspired by the ancient Islay legend of a beautiful but tragic Norse goddess, searching for a long lost love with an apron full of stones. During the journey the apron is torn, leaving a trail of islands. At the end she finds love but also tragically dies in the sea. The last stone that fell out of her apron formed Islay.

The first chapter of Yula is comprised of different peated malts from Islay and other islands...

I must admit I always thought the Fine Oak range of The Macallan was entirely bourbon matured. I was wrong: it is usually a marriage of bourbon and sherry oak, but in a lighter style so vastly less sherry influence than you’ll find in the original Sherry Oak range.

The Macallan Fine Oak 21 Years is triple cask matured : a combination of European oak casks seasoned with sherry, American oak casks seasoned with sherry and American oak casks seasoned with bourbon.

The Macallan 21 yo ‘Fine Oak’ (43%, OB +/- 2015)

Nose: quite rich in a classic...

While it’s still not easy for independent bottlers to get hold of Islay whisky, it seems Coal Ila is a solid choice. They’ve always had a steady production and quality is very reliable, not matter what the age.

Eiling Lim selected a Coal Ila 2006 as her 11th release.

Caol Ila 9 yo 2006 (51,2%, Eiling Lim 2015, 109 btl.)

Nose: crystal clear. Its dry character comes out first, with salty sea spray, fennel, hessian and medium smoke. Then it becomes slightly rounder, with almonds and berries. Mouth: oily mouthfeel, plenty of peaty notes at first, joined by...

This is a Glenlivet 1974 bottled by Gordon & MacPhail as part of their Distillery Label range. It was matured in refill American oak casks & refill sherry casks (which I presume is American and European oak then).

There have been different releases at 40% and 43% throughout the years but this seems to be the latest release, which comes in the new style of bottles.

Glenlivet 1974 (43%, Gordon & MacPhail 2011)

Nose: red apples, or rather apple pie, with red fruit jam and soaked raisins. Light hints of praline and marzipan. Nice hints of furniture wax and...

Glenmorangie A Midwinter Night’s Dram started in oktober 2015 as a Sainsbury’s exclusive but was then distributed to other retailers in the UK a few weeks later. Word spread rapidly that it was a very pleasant dram, especially since it was originally available for around € 50.

This single malt features whisky drawn from select bourbon casks and Spanish Oloroso Sherry casks.

Glenmorangie ‘A Midwinter Night’s Dram’ (43%, OB 2016)

Nose: a profile that Glenmorangie masters perfectly. It’s rather light but very aromatic, sweet and candied. Vanilla with raspberries. Frosties and apricot jam. Orange peel. Plenty of...

Here’s another BenRiach from the 12th batch of single casks, bottled in juni 2015. Cask 4936 was filled in 1990 with spirit in the classic Speyside style, until being bottled after 25 years.

BenRiach 25 yo 1990 (50,4%, OB 2015, 196 btl.)

Nose: bright and fresh. Some garden fruits (pear, apricots) but rather shy, definitely not a fruit bomb. Hints of chalk and plenty of active oak. Quite some floral notes too, which makes it a rather fragrant BenRiach. Mouth: same feeling of mellow fruits (apple, grapefruit). Some barley sugars and slightly green, plankish oak. Vanilla and ginseng....

A couple of weeks ago, I was at a wonderful tasting in Germany where I could try this new Irish whiskey from the already famous batch of 1991 casks.

The label says it was selected by Master Taster F. Thomas ( remember this one? ) and bottled for Komplex Whisky in Sweden.

Ireland 24 yo 1991 (50,6%, The Whisky Agency for Komplex Whisky 2015, 157 btl.)

Nose: classic peaches, mango, pineapple and green banana. Never getting tired of this. While it’s very aromatic, it seems to have a bigger mineral side, with more waxy notes as well. A...

Speyburn maj not be a well-known name, part of which probably comes down to the fact that there are so little independent bottlings. We’re trying a Speyburn 1991 (the year the distillery was acquired by Inver House) bottled by Gordon & MacPhail . It was matured in a a remade bourbon hogshead from American oak.

Speyburn 1991 (46%, Gordon & MacPhail Connoisseurs Choice 2015)

Nose: classic nose full of muesli, vanilla and bread dough. Lemony sourness and peaches. Pineapple candy. Grated coconut flakes. Light porridge. After a while the more fragrant side comes out: some floral hints...

Elements of Islay used to be a series of single malt releases, produced at one of the Islay distilleries, but now they’ve expanded the range with a blended Maltwhisky simply named Elements of Islay – Peat .

Elements of Islay – Peat (59,3%, Speciality Drinks 2015)

Nose: citrusy and clean, with straightforward peat, as expected. There are plenty of ashy notes, minerals and hay, but they wrapped in a bright, slightly scented layer of grapefruit, pear and floral notes. Hints of oysters. A little vanilla and malty sweetness as well. Water makes it slightly less fresh,...

Whisky-Online is known for its shop, its whisky auctions and, well… its funny ambassador with the square pants. He sent me a sample of their second bottling, an Ardmore 1993 selected from the Gordon & MacPhail stocks.

Ardmore 22 yo 1993 (49,9%, Gordon & MacPhail for Whisky-Online 2015, refill bourbon barrel #5750, 176 btl.)

Nose: nice combination of mineral notes, limestone and camphor with rounder notes like vanilla, green banana and gooseberries. Lots of mint and eucalyptus. Wet fur. Honey and hints of beeswax. Mouth: same combination of sharpness and roundness. This time the fruity notes are brighter...

Since its first appearance in 2006, Caol Ila has released a bottling of their ‘unpeated style’ in the yearly Special Releases . I’ve read it is the tenth unpeated release already, and the oldest version so far.

Caol Ila 17 yo 1997 ‘unpeated style’ (55,9%, OB 2015)

Nose: not entirely unpeated, with a rather rough start and less fruits than expected. Green herbal notes, lemongrass and chili. Peppermint. Yellow apples and light honey. Grapefruits. Still some brine and leafy hints. Mouth: zesty and minty again, grassy notes, with an undefined sweetness underneath. Hints of chalk and burnt...