Another new Golden Cask release: Glendullan 1999 . It caught my interest because it’s such a low-profile distillery. The last time I reviewed one was back in 2011.

Glendullan 15 yo 1999 (59,8%, Golden Cask 2015)

Nose: young and bright. Lemons, lots of apples and grapes. Gooseberries and hints of rhubarb. Blossomy notes. Light vanilla. Powder sugar and just a little white pepper. Mouth: lots of green apple notes at first, slightly acrid. Lemon juice. Green spices. Icing sugar again. Almost a light Portuguese wine at higher strength. Quite faultless and summery but also quite uninspired. Finish: medium...

This week we witnessed another distillery turning itself towards the super premium audience and releasing a series of outrageously priced single malts.

Now let me start by saying I have great respect for The Balvenie in general, and for malt master David Stewart in particular, who gave us high quality core range bottlings and innovative ideas like the Tun 1401 / Tun 1509 / Tun 1858 series. The fact that he’s retiring absolutely deserves a milestone release and a great tribute.

That being said, it seems that marketing-wise Stewart has been retiring for the last five years or so...

German bottler Sansibar released a new series earlier this year, with a nice Samurai label . One of the highlights in the series was this undisclosed Speyside malt distilled in 1977.

Speyside Malt 38 yo 1977 (46,1%, Sansibar 2015, sherry butt, 582 btl.)

Nose: really nice, quite a lot of straight oak but in a beautiful way. A lot of cinnamon, fresh oranges and some orange blossom, cardamom. Cedar wood. Big minty notes, hints of eucalyptus. Some waxy notes. Apple peelings and mirabelles. A slight oriental hint as well, with a little tobacco and incense. Mouth: quite wood-driven...

The Macallan 18 Year Old Sherry Oak was once the Rolls Royce bottling when it comes to sherry maturation. At least it was when I started my whisky adventures at the start of this century. The fame of recent bottlings seems to have faded a little, with the rest of the Macallan’s sherry range.

Mind that since the 1980’s releases the label says ‘distilled in 1997 and earlier years ’ so it’s not technically a vintage whisky.

The Macallan 18 yo 1997 (43%, OB 2015)

Nose: still a rather juicy kind of sherry. Plenty of oranges (fresh juice,...

This is the third release of Bruichladdich Bere Barley . The 2007 crops used for this spirit were grown on Orkney and supplied by local farmers in cooperation with the Agronomy Institute at Orkney College UHI (who also worked with Arran among others).

Bere is an ancient type of barley – similar grains found on Orkney reach back to the dawn of Scottish agriculture and civilisation, more than 4,500 years ago. It produces desperately low yields – 50% less than a modern crop .

Bruichladdich Bere Barley 2008 (50%, OB 2014, 36.000 btl.)

Nose: very close to the...

You don’t see independent Balmenach every day (actually you see them more often than official releases). The Whisky Exchange already selected a few from the Signatory Vintage stocks and they did the same for this year’s Whisky Show.

Balmenach 26 yo 1988 (51,1%, Signatory Vintage for The Whisky Exchange 2015, hogshead #3242, 192 btl.)

Nose: gentle nose, with a warm fruitiness: pineapple and overripe banana, with some bramble and stewed apple. Marmalade. Also honey and lots of hay. Vanilla and waxed oak. After a while some subtle leafy notes, light porridge and sweet herbs come out (mint, cinnamon)....

La Maison du Whisky presented its Collection 2016 which contains a whole list of new releases for the coming year. Nicknamed ‘Still Life’, the catalogue features something for everyone.

A couple of highlights:

• Glenlivet 40yo 1974 ‘Artist #5’ (46,8%, 240 btl.)
• A lot of Gordon & MacPhail exclusives
• Two exclusive GlenDronach single casks (1995 and 2003) and a BenRiach 1998 triple distilled
• Yula 20yo , a new blended malt from Douglas Laing
• The new Nikka 12 Year Old
• Two Chichibu single casks (beer barrel and Madeira hogshead)
• Amrut The Trilogy (bourbon, 100 peated and peated bourbon)
• Puni Alba,...

Oban means Little Bay in Gaelic, so it’s a pretty obvious name for the latest addition in the core range (now that stories are worth more than age statements).

In its recipe we find different ages of whisky, matured in three types of casks : European oak sherry casks, refill casks with new oak cask ends and refill American oak hogsheads. The resulting whisky was married in small oak casks.

Oban is one of Diageo’s smallest distilleries and it hasn’t been in the spotlight, but Oban Little Bay shows that it’s still alive and kicking.

Oban Little Bay ‘Small...

This is the oldest member of the revamped Royal Brackla core range: 12 Year Old , 16 Year Old and 21 Year Old .

Royal Brackla 21 yo (40%, OB 2015)

Nose: nice, subtle aromas. Candle wax and leather, with oak polish and exotic spices (ginseng, clove). Green tea. Eucalyptus and menthol. Orange and apple peels, damsons, very light grassy notes. Great old-style elegance and waxiness. Mouth: subtle and quite waxy again, vaguely fruity (lime, bergamot). Star anise. Something of dried mango. Becomes darker, maltier and more chocolaty towards the end. Vanilla. Straw. Hints of old wood –...

We’ve had a look at some of the latest Golden Cask releases from The House of Macduff / Cumbrae Supply. For starters: Tomatin 1994 .

Tomatin 21 yo 1994 (53,9%, Golden Cask Reserve 2015, ref. CM221, 257 btl.)

Nose: creamy and aromatic, with lots of sweet vanilla marshmallows and creamy custard. Stewed apples. Honeysuckle. Bananas flambéed and papaya. Butter pastry. Light potpourri and nail polish, which works well here. Also a growing hint of polished oak. Really nice. Mouth: thick and fruity with a syrupy sweetness to it. Cantaloupe, apples, pineapple and papaya again. Honey. Slowly moving towards...

Dalwhinnie Winter’s Gold takes over the idea of The Snow Grouse: it’s a Maltwhisky designed to be drunk ice cold, straight from the freezer. Dalwhinnie usually stays below the radar and doesn’t seem to be as marketing-driven as some others, but the story-driven NAS hype affects all distilleries eventually.

I’ll review the whisky neat though, as I don’t think chilling whiskies makes much sense. It takes away most of the delicate flavours. Although I have to admit it also takes away the impression of sweetness, which in this case could be welcome.

Dalwhinnie Winter’s Gold (43%, OB 2015)

Nose:...

Just arrived in our mailbox: the new Maltwhisky Yearbook 2015, still smelling like… well… other new books. The concept hasn’t changed, it’s still as fresh and up-to-date as ever.

The big reference part of the 290 pages are an overview of Scotch Maltwhisky distilleries , one page for each, including their latest releases, facts & figures, contact details and now also the pronunciation of their name. There’s also a chapter with 14 new distilleries like Wolfburn, Kingsbarns, Annandale, Roseisle… Closed distilleries and Japan have similar chapters, while the increasing list of ‘world’ whiskies have more concise descriptions.

The...

Sometimes a very nice sample simply doesn’t make it on the website. Because it gets lost at the bottom of a box, or because other blogs happen to write about it at the same time. And then, a couple of years later, it turns up again.

Here’s a Caol Ila 1979 bottled by Malts of Scotland that I should have tried way back in 2012, when I could still buy a bottle.

Caol Ila 33 yo 1979 (52,3%, Malts of Scotland 2012, bourbon hogshead, MoS 12022, 280 btl.)

Nose: reminds me of the 1979 from Maltbarn. It’s more...

Here’s a little article I wrote for the new website sherry.org . I believe it makes sense to repeat it here as well.

A lot of my friends are whisky drinkers and when I tell them about my love for sherry, their first reaction is usually “yeah well, I tried sherry and it’s too sweet”. Or too dry. Or too soft. Or whatever. They’ve tried it once or twice and weren’t impressed. Nonetheless I’m convinced sherry has a lot of qualities which will appeal to whisky drinkers.

For starters, I love the fact that whisky comes in so many...

Abbey Whisky has a new Rare Casks bottling, distilled in 2001 at “one of Scotland’s finest distilleries” and finished in an Oloroso sherry cask.

Anon. 13 yo 2001 – Batch 1 (51,5%, Abbey Whisky ‘The Rare Casks’ 2015, 90 btl.)

Nose: malty and fruity, with plenty of peaches and apples, golden raisins and banana. Vanilla custard. While this sounds creamy and mellow, there’s also a bite to it, a slight prickle of ginger and something highly acidic. White pepper to underscore this. Cashews. Mouth: again a classic malty / fruity core. Apples and apple skin. Heather honey, nectarine....

This Karuizawa 1984 was bottled last year. Although it is bottled by Number One Drinks (like all others) it has a unique label that sets it apart from ‘official’ releases. It was selected by Cask Norway and Cask Sweden , which are part of the Nordic Group, a distributor of wines, beers and spirits.

Cask #7802 was a European oak Oloroso butt.

Karuizawa 29 yo 1984 (56,7%, OB for Cask Norway & Cask Sweden, Oloroso butt #7802, 577 btl.)

Nose: great. Clean, with lovely whiffs of tobacco leaves and worn leather up front. Cigar boxes. Very warm. Classic...

This Teeling 2002 is a single malt Irish whiskey bottled from a single Port cask . Port casks are one of the five types that are used to finish the Teeling whiskeys (alongside Sherry, Madeira, white Burgundy and Cabernet Sauvignon).

It is a light whiskey with a noticeable salmon hue that is so typical for Port wine finishing.

Teeling 13 yo 2002 Single Cask (54,2%, OB 2015, Port cask #905)

Nose: a very fragrant nose, with the classic Irish elements like melons, bananas and sweet pears, but also raspberries and redcurrant jam from the Port. Soaked sultanas. Almond paste...

The most interesting whisky release of this week for me was the new This is not a luxury whisky from the boutique whiskymaker Compass Box .

It is a blended Scotch inspired by our Belgian artist René Magritte who created the concept piece ‘The treachery of images’ in 1929, better known as Ceci n’est pas une pipe .

Whiskymaker John Glaser explains: “Over recent years, we’ve seen a growing trend in the Scotch industry towards super-premium releases that position Scotch whiskies as ‘luxury goods’ or status symbols to be displayed and traded – rather than as liquids to be consumed...

Bunnahabhain Eirigh Na Greine is the travel retail replacement for Darach Ur . The name means ‘morning sky’ in Gaelic.

Eirigh Na Greine contains a significant proportion of whiskies matured in Italian and French red wine casks. The whiskies were of various ages so the end result is another NAS expression.

Bunnahabhain Eirigh Na Greine (46,3%, OB 2014, travel retail)

Nose: a sharp, grainy onset, quickly rounded off by a toffee and raisin / raspberry / red berry sweetness. Not unlike some PX finishes, which I generally like better than red wine finishes. Fragrant and candied. Almonds, ginger,...

In 1835, King William IV visited Brackla distillery and was so taken by the spirit that he bestowed the ‘Royal’ status to the distillery. It became the first ever Scotch to garner a royal warrant, later followed by Lochnagar and Glenury.

The distillery is working with traditional production methods and aims for a high level of fruitiness by allowing the fermentation stage to take 80 hours or more and running the stills at a slow pace.

As part of the “Last great malts” campaign, its owners John Dewar & Sons have recently launched a new core range, which includes...