So the American TTB database published an approval for the label of a Lagavulin 8 Year Old bottled for the 200th Anniversary of the distillery. It comes at 48% alc. vol.

Interestingly, the application was filed for the usual 75cl but also half bottles, 1 liter and 1.75 liters.

Last week a few UK insiders had a preview of an undisclosed, supposedly rather excellent anniversary edition that would not be a Feis Ile release. Full details would be given in mars but there’s a good chance they were talking about this Lagavulin 8 Years .

Also coming...

Post n°2000 (hooray).

This Glenugie was distilled in maj 1980 and bottled oktober 1992 by Cadenhead’s . Did you know there were only around 90 single malt bottlings of Glenugie ever? Rare stuff indeed.

There seem to be different versions / similar bottlings from Cadenhead and they can be difficult to keep apart. This one is the ‘small white label’ bottling. Other bottlings are available at 58,1%, 59,7% and 59,8%, all distilled maj 1980 and bottled september / oktober 1992.

Glenugie 12 yo 1980 (59,8%, Cadenhead 1992, sherry cask)

Nose: I cannot not think of Karuizawa. It has...

WealthSolutions in Poland is becoming quite a name in the presentation of ultra-premium spirits. They select some of the oldest casks they can get from well-known distilleries and sell them primarily to investors.

So far we were able to try their Karuizawa 1964 , Glen Grant 1948 and Glenfarclas 1953 . We will also look at their pre-phylloxera Bache Gabrielsen and L’Esprit de Tiffon cognacs in the future, but now we are looking at this Glen Grant 1950 .

Like the 1948, this comes from the Gordon & MacPhail stocks. It is a stunning 65 years old and it...

This Bruichladdich majflower ‘80 refers to The majflower , the English merchant ship that transported the first English Separatists (Pilgrims) from Plymouth to the New World in 1620.

The whisky is 15 years old and was distilled in 1965 or before. majbe even in the late 1950s as it seems to be lightly peated – a practice that Bruichladdich lost in the early 1960s. It was bottled in the Samaroli Collection .

There’s also a higher strength edition at 52% by the way (white box vs. brown box).

Bruichladdich 15 yo ‘majflower ‘80’ (43%, OB for Samaroli 1980, ceramic...

In the summer of 2014, Glenfarclas released two 1954 casks: #1259 and #1260. On the label they say they were matured in ‘plain butts’ (so ex-bourbon casks? or rather some fourth fill?) and bottled after 60 years, give or take, making them among the oldest casks left in the warehouses at that time.

Glenfarclas ‘Family Casks’ 1954 (46,7%, OB 2014, plain butt #1259, 453 btl.)

Nose: some mentholated oak up front, as well as some leather, orange peel and a light suggestion of mango and mirabelles. Even passion fruits. Beeswax and fir honey. Some good vanilla and...

Three Ships Whisky is the pioneer of the South African whisky industry.

Distilled in 2005 at the James Sedgwick Distillery in Wellington, the whisky was initially matured for eight years and ten months in American oak before spending a further 14 months in a cask seasoned with Pedro Ximénez sherry.

The whisky forms part of the Three Ships Masters Collection which will see a limited edition being launched, each year, over the next years under the Three Ships brand.

Three Ships 10 yo ‘single cask PX finish’ (46,2%, OB 2015, 800 btl.)

Nose: a pleasantly dusty start, some...

We have a little celebration coming up this Friday, and we’ll work our way up to this occasion with a series of excellent oldies.

We already had similar Glendronach 1959/1960 and Glen Grant 1959/1960 , all bottled by Gordon & MacPhail for the wedding of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson. This time we try the Mortlach 1959/1960 . Each of these whiskies are a vatting of 1959 and 1960 casks, the birth years of both royals.

Mortlach 1959 & 1960 (40%, Gordon & MacPhail 1986, Royal marriage of Prince Andrew & Sarah)

Nose: full-on sherry, with lots of...

The new labels of this Irish Connemara mention Kilbeggan Distilling Co. which is the name of a distillery but also the name of the group. Mind that the peated Connemara whiskey is produced at the Cooley distillery, the other half of the group.

Connemara Distillers Edition was matured in bourbon casks and finished in Oloroso sherry casks – a similar concept to Diageo’s Distillers Editions. I believe this was once exclusively available in France but it recently made it to the core range.

Connemara Distiller’s Edition (43%, OB 2015)

Nose: starts with a nice sooty note, exhaust fumes...

Glenfiddich The Original is a new limited edition based on Hamish Robertson’s 1963 Glenfiddich Straight Malt release, considered to be the world’s first single malt. Of course whisky had already been bottled as a single malt before, but it was never marketed as such. Back then straight malt was used to set it apart from blended whisky. Later this became pure malt and now everyone is limited to single malt .

When the Glenfiddich Straight Malt was released in 1963 , it was reportedly made from a base of 8yo whisky, vatted together with some 12yo and 13yo casks. Although...

Pittyvaich was only open between 1975 and 1993 so it’s not really surprising bottlings are rarely seen. Apparently Pittyvaich had shorter fermentation times than other distilleries, and the stills were run a bit stronger, giving a ‘more flavoursome’ spirit.

The 2015 Special Releases contained this Pittyvaich 25 Year Old 1989 , matured in refill American oak hogsheads and ex-bourbon barrels.

Pittyvaich 25 yo 1989 (49,9%, OB 2015, Special release, 5922 btl.)

Nose: quite syrupy with almond milk and hints of wax and floral overtones. Honeysuckle, grapes, vanilla icing and a few drops of lemon. Also mineral notes,...

This is a triple distilled BenRiach 1998 , finished in a Pedro Ximénez puncheon cask #6394 . Part of the single casks batch 12 .

BenRiach 17 yo 1998 (57,5%, OB 2015, PX puncheon #6394, 702 btl.)

Nose: plums and dried apricots, as well as sultanas and red berries. Some leather. Muscovado sugar and honey. A few matchsticks as well but rather clean. Tobacco and Mexican spiced chocolate. Fine so far, a fairly light and balanced nose. Mouth: chocolaty and spicy again. Cloves, pepper, a bit hot overall. Then more plums and grapes, red apples and sultanas. Oranges....

Well, majbe not entirely new as rumours have been spreading for a few months now, but with the label in the American TTB database , it’s hardly speculation now. Ardbeg Dark Cove will appear soon.

At the heart of this whisky are dark sherry casks . That’s not an official term so we can only assume they are heavily seasoned (PX?) casks, bringing lots of sweet coffee, chocolate and sticky toffee to Ardbeg’s smoky notes. It should be Ardbegs darkest spirit ever.

The standard bottle will be at 46,5% but we’ve also seen the label of a Committtee Edition at...

Claxton’s Spirits started as an independent bottler in september 2015 when they announced a first batch of three single cask bottlings: Glentauchers 1996 , Tobermory 1995 and Tomatin 1994.

Glentauchers 18 yo 1996 (48%, Claxton’s 2015, bourbon barrel #7884, 320 btl.)

Nose: tropical fruits (tinned pineapple, kiwi, unripe nectarine and green banana) with green apple peelings. Watermelon bubblegum. Hints of vanilla latte. Gets quite floral / fragrant after a while, which mingles with a rather up-front varnishy side, which resembles some old grain whisky. Minty notes too. Mouth: sweet and fruity, lots of apples, peaches, pineapples… Grapefruit zest....

We already announced Benromach 35 Year Old some days ago and now we had a chance to sample it. It is created from 1980s first-fill sherry casks, laid down before the distillery was acquired and restored by Gordon & MacPhail in 1993-1998.

Benromach 35 yo (43%, OB 2016)

Nose: my kinda profile, with the typical warm beehive notes (wax, honey, hints of mead) and very pleasant, sweet & sour fruity notes (mirabelles, pear, kiwi), even a lightly tropical touch (melon). Sweet, polished oak. Cinnamon sugar. Also very light tobacco and a minty edge. No wham-bam whisky, but...

When we announced the latest batch of single casks from Wemyss Malts , this Glen Garioch 1989 ‘Fallen Apples’ was the one that immediately caught our eye. You don’t see old 25yo Glen Garioch that often.

Glen Garioch 1989 ‘Fallen Apples’ (46%, Wemyss Malts 2015, hogshead, 266 btl.)

Nose: plenty of apples indeed, mainly the red kind, quite mature and sweet / candied. Hints of peaches, oranges and honey. In the background there’s a light hint of tobacco and warm oak. Becomes a bit more floral over time, adding some hay as well. Mouth: it seems lightly peated....

Clynelish Select Reserve was introduced in the 2014 Special Releases . The fact that it had no age statement received quite some angry comments (considering the price) but for this year we have a bit more information.

It’s a mix of four different vintages , the youngest component being 15 years old. All major cask types were used: ex-bourbon first-fill American oak barrels, rejuvenated and refill American oak hogsheads and ex-Sherry and refill European oak butts.

Clynelish Select Reserve (56,1%, OB 2015, Special Release, 2946 btl.)

Nose: It seems less waxy than previous years, but rather more...

More news: the return of Springbank Local Barley .

When we say Local Barley, we think of a series of legendary 1965-1966 casks (#44x-#51x) released in the 1990s. They were produced with locally sourced barley and developed into hugely complex, fruity wonders.

Springbank has now revived this idea. The new Local Barley was distilled in 1999 , making it 16 years old . For now 9000 bottles are available at 54,3% ABV, all distilled from barley grown at Low Machrimore Farm in Southend, a few miles outside of Campbeltown. Local Barley will become part of the core range. It...

The Whisky Nerds is a fellowship of five whisky friends in Holland (Bram, Floris and others) who decided to start a small label and bottle their own drams. After their GlenDronach 1995 cask #2380 there’s now a Kavalan single cask.

Peaty cask means it was matured in a cask that previously held peated whisky, but keep in mind that the Kavalan itself doesn’t produce peated spirit. This means we can probably expect a rather subtle smokiness.

Kavalan Peaty Cask 2006 (53,2%, OB for Whisky Nerds 2015, R061106107, 99 btl.)

Nose: very aromatic with the fruitiness having the upper...

Due to be launched on februari 1st: a new Benromach 35 Year Old , distilled in 1980, matured in first fill sherry casks  and bottled at 43%. Priced around € 550.

The bottle and presentation case was designed over many months by scottish designers, the copper cut medallion on the bottle signifies the perfect moment in time when the distillers cut to the heart of the run and fresh new spirit becomes Benromach. The label is soft and tactile with embossing and a copper foil. The bottle has a curved thick set glass base and the dark oak box represents the wood...

Teeling Revival is a 15 year old bottling composed from rum casks filled in 1999. It was bottled as a special commemorative expression to mark the opening of the company’s Dublin distillery in juni 2015, the first distillery to open in the Irish capital in 125 years.

Later this year, Teeling will launch two new additions to the Vintage Reserve lineup: small batch releases of 24 and 33 year old Irish whiskies.

Teeling Revival 15 yo (46%, OB 2016, 10.000 btl.)

Nose: a bit sharp at first, but settles down nicely and shows the typical fruity profile. Green banana,...